Gov’t clarifies why 6th sample not tested for COVID-19

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A sample from a Cayman Islands patient that was sent to the Caribbean Public Health Agency for COVID-19 testing did not meet CARPHA’s criteria for testing.

The sample from the patient, who last week was deemed to be Cayman’s ‘sixth test’, was ultimately not tested for coronavirus, according to a statement from Government Information Services.

The patient now is asymptomatic, GIS said.

CARPHA has “the only laboratory that can confirm positive or negative results [which is] located in Trinidad and Tobago. They are our trusted partners,” Medical Officer of Health Dr. Samuel Williams-Rodriguez said in the statement.

The issue surrounding the patient’s sample centred on the person’s travel history.

While the patient was seen at the Cayman Islands Hospital with flu-like symptoms and had a travel history to a country with positive cases, that country did not have ongoing transmission of COVID-19. CARPHA’s international best practice case states that in order to be tested, patients must have travelled to an area with ongoing transmission of the virus.

“It became clear to us that this case didn’t meet the agreed criteria necessary for CARPHA to accept the case for testing,” Williams-Rodriguez said.

CARPHA guidance on testing

Suspect case
A. Patient with acute respiratory illness and no other aetiology to explain symptoms, and history of travel to a country reporting local transmission of COVID-19 in the last 14 days.
B. Patient with any acute respiratory illness and having been in contact with a confirmed or probable COVID-19 case in the last 14 days.
C. Patient with severe acute respiratory infection and requiring hospitalisation, with no other aetiology that explains the symptoms.

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