Interim Chief Medical Officer Dr. Autilia Newton reported 18 newly-suspected Omicron cases on Thursday, bringing the total suspected cases of the variant to 72.
East End MP Isaac Rankine announced on his Facebook page that he is one of the suspected cases of the variant.
“The result of my PCR test was positive for COVID-19 and there is a likelihood that I was exposed to and contracted the new variant Omicron. So far, I feel fine and also asymptomatic,” Rankine noted in the post, adding he was disappointed not to be making his usual constituency rounds this holiday season.
To date, there have been four confirmed cases of the Omicron variant found in Cayman, as first announced on Saturday.
Genomic sequencing of potential Omicron cases is underway, according to the latest update from the Public Health Department.
PCR tests can strongly indicate if a person has the Omicron strain, which unlike the Delta variant, is missing the ‘S’ gene. While genome sequencing will confirm the strain, if the PCR test shows an S-gene dropout, it is almost certain that the tested individual has the new variant.
The Omicron cases are among 60 new cases of COVID-19, eight in travellers and 52 from the community, reported on Thursday.
6 COVID-19 patients were hospitalised, which marks no change since Wednesday.
Public Health reported 544 PCR tests were conducted in total on the previous day.
These results left the number of active cases of COVID-19 in the Cayman Islands at 3,544 and the total number of cases recorded since the start of the pandemic at 8,386.
The total number of people in isolation linked solely to community transmission was 3,506.
There were also two new cases of COVID-19 in the Sister Islands. To date, there have been 125 total cases recorded in the Sister Islands, with 120 having recovered. Out of the total number of cases in the Sister Islands, 66 were fully vaccinated, six were partially vaccinated, and 53 were unvaccinated.
58,694 people (83% of 71,106) have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Meanwhile, 57,039 individuals (80%) have completed the two-dose course.
Additionally, 16,368 people (representing 23% of the total population) have received a third or booster dose.
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