The Pines Retirement Home has closed its doors to visitors until further notice after a number of COVID-19 cases were discovered among the elderly residents there, Lynda Mitchell, chief executive officer of The Pines, confirmed on Saturday, 20 Nov.
Through a Ministry of Investment, Innovation and Social Development statement, Mitchell said the decision to prevent visitor access to the facility was a “precautionary measure”.
“Fortunately, the cases discovered through routine testing at the Pines Retirement Home have been identified at an early stage,” said Dr. Samuel Williams-Rodriguez, medical officer of health in the statement.
The Pines issued a statement Friday night, which was emailed to the Cayman Compass Saturday afternoon, advising that 10 residents and one staff member tested positive for the virus. Six of the 10 residents were unvaccinated.
“We are working diligently with HSA, Dr. [John] Lee, Dr. Williams, and The Pines Retirement Home Board of Directors to mitigate the effects of this outbreak on the residents and to ensure a favorable outcome for all concerned. All family members of residents infected have been notified,” the Pines statement said, adding that further testing of all staff and residents would be conducted Saturday.
The ministry, in its statement, did not disclose the conditions of the residents or staffer who tested positive.
The last COVID-19 statistics, released by the Health Ministry on Friday night, reported 170 positive results from the community out of 1,518 PCR tests conducted between 8am Thursday and 8am Friday. There were 21 COVID-19 patients hospitalised – one more than the 20 reported on Thursday.
These results brought the number of active cases of COVID-19 in Cayman to 3,675, as of 8am Friday, with total cases recorded since the start of the pandemic now standing at 5,532.
The positives at The Pines are expected to be included in Monday’s overall figures for the weekend.
Paulinda Mendoza-Williams, Department of Child and Family Services director, assured that residents’ health and safety are paramount.
“We are entrusted with the care of residents of the Cayman Islands’ care homes, [which] include the elderly, disabled and those with special needs. As such, we must do all we can to prevent a repeat of the tragic scenes of 2020 when COVID-19 ran uncontrollably through residential care homes around the world,” she said.
Lateral Flow testing policy instituted
Williams-Rodriguez said Public Health will work with the home and its nursing staff, the Health Services Authority, and other medical practitioners, if required, to apply global best practices in mitigating further spread of the virus.
“The Cayman Islands is fortunate to have the world’s best technology and medicine available to proactively treat these or other COVID-19 patients,” he added in his statement.
Mitchell said in order to protect all residents and staff at The Pines, and to aid in the continuity of operations, a lateral flow testing regime that is based on robust evidence will be adopted.
“We are grateful to the Ministry of Investment, Innovation and Social Development for providing these tests this morning. Both residents and staff will adopt a more rigorous testing regime, in addition to following other procedures and protocols based on advice from the Chief Medical Officer, Public Health, and the Health Services Authority,” she said.
The ministry, in the statement, said it was notified on Friday night of “a number” of COVID-19 positive cases among residents of the home, saying it will continue to provide support and assistance as officials follow The Pines’ COVID-19 mitigation plan.
In the statement, Williams-Rodriguez added that Public Health was actively involved in assisting to ensure the health and safety of residents and staff of the Pines Retirement Home.
“As the Cayman Islands experiences community spread of COVID-19, we continue to appeal to the public that vaccination offers the best defense… A significant proportion of our elderly are vaccinated and they should avail [themselves] of a booster vaccine if they have not already,” he added.
The ministry said it recently procured a significant number of lateral flow tests to be used in conjunction with supporting policy and protocols in Cayman Islands’ residential care homes, which care for elderly, disabled and special needs patients in Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac under the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS).
On Saturday morning, it said 1,000 tests were delivered to The Pines.
Mendoza-Williams noted that back in October, residential care homes under DCFS management in Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac were provided with lateral flow tests to be utilised with an accompanying testing protocol.
“Nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, widespread vaccination has provided our crucial first line of defense and offers vital protection for our whole community. Given the reality of community spread… the next line of defense is the proactive use of lateral flow tests,” she said.
The tests, Mendoza-Williams said, will aid “greatly in preventing outbreaks and protecting those who are most susceptible to the deadly virus”, in combination with other protocols and procedures in Cayman’s residential care homes.
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