As of 9am on Thursday, 4 Nov., there have been 75 additional community cases and none from travellers, among PCR tests processed from 8am Wednesday to Thursday morning.
There have now been 2,557 positive COVID-19 cases across the Cayman Islands since March 2020, according to Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Lee.
He reported there had been 75 additional community cases and none from travellers, among PCR tests processed from 8am Wednesday to Thursday morning.
Cases of COVID in the Sister Islands remain stable, according to Lee, who clarified that they are among people at home who are either asymptomatic or suffering with minor symptoms. One person, who was transferred from Cayman Brac to Cayman Islands Hospital, is in stable condition.
There are currently 10 people in hospital, Lee said, including eight who are unvaccinated.
The two hospitalised cases who are vaccinated have additional medical conditions which “predispose you to the effects of COVID disease, unfortunately”, he added.
Lateral flow policy
Lee stated that core government is rolling out its own lateral flow test policy “as we speak”, in addition to the national policy released last week.
“The availability of lateral flow tests is improving, almost on a daily basis,” he said, adding, “Every day, I am hearing reports of tens of thousands of more tests arriving to be deployed.”
He reiterated that people do not have to quarantine if someone in their household has tested positive for COVID-19, if they are a child attending school or a fully-vaccinated adult who adheres to a policy of taking daily lateral flow tests, which are negative.
By law, Lee cautioned, people are obligated to report any positive results from at-home lateral flow tests, which can be uploaded here.
“If, however, you are unvaccinated, you would need to remain isolated in the household for the 14 days, as was previously,” Lee said.
No one will be released from quarantine without testing negative on a PCR test, he added.
CMO ‘encouraged’ by low numbers of hospitalisations
Lee said that, although this remains a “worrying” time for everybody, he was encouraged that the numbers in hospital remain low, which he said was an “enormous testament” to Cayman’s vaccination levels, he said.
From next week, certain other groups, such as teachers, will be eligible for a booster. From 8 Nov., the programme will be open to people over 40 years old.
You can watch the full update below:
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So the most important highlight is if you are vaccinated, be mindful to wash hands and stay hygienic, and live life as normal as you are very unlikely to have to go to the hospital.
But if your an unvaccinated adult or have significant health issues you need to be very vigilant.
I’m a few weeks we would have had more or the population test positive but we should very little impact to our health care system, allowing us to return to a normal lifestyle, open borders and herd immunity on top of the vaccination.
To those adults who are unvaccinated- your choice but you are very likely to end up in the hospital.