Premier Wayne Panton has said while the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control’s advisory against Cayman is “regrettable” he is not worried that it will have a negative impact on visitors coming here when borders unlock next week.

Panton, fresh out of quarantine, made the comment on Friday morning on ‘For the Record’ on Radio Cayman, as he said most systems preparing for the 20 Nov. reopening are on green-light (based on government’s internal traffic light tracking system) and regular briefs on their progress are being delivered through the programme board managing those operations.

Speaking about the CDC advisory for the first time since it was issued this week, Panton said he does not expect any adverse fallout as the Opposition has been predicting.

“CDC level 4 and a travel advisory has never stopped Americans from travelling because their risk of getting COVID at home is as bad or maybe even worse than travelling overseas. So I don’t see that having a really negative impact at all in Cayman so I am not bothered about that,” he said.

Premier Wayne Panton speaking on Radio Cayman’s For the Record show with Orrett Connor. – Photo: Radio Cayman

The Tourism Ministry issued a statement sharing that view, but Opposition Leader Roy McTaggart disagreed, saying there will be consequences.

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Panton called on the Opposition, in particular former premier Alden McLaughlin, to leave politics out of public health.

The premier pointed out that while the increasing number of COVID-19 cases is concerning, Cayman’s hospitalisations remain low, which he credited to the jurisdiction’s high vaccination rate.

As at 8am Thursday, there were 2,661 active COVID cases, bringing the total recorded since the start of the pandemic to 3,938.

Panton said on the government radio show that Little Cayman now has zero COVID cases and Cayman Brac cases are stable.

He added that he took a PCR test Thursday night and was negative for COVID.

He advised those who travel, upon their return, to try “at least for a week to limit your exposure in the community and going around”.

He said by all means they should take lateral flow tests every other day to check their status.

“I think that would be very helpful in trying to limit our potential for having additional community spread from people travelling… from our own people travelling,” he said.

Hospitalisation numbers are important

Panton said, as of Friday morning, 18 people are in hospital with COVID-19, and there have been some patients who have also sought treatment and been discharged.

However, he said 80% of those in hospital are unvaccinated as he reiterated his call for those who have been hesitant about the vaccine to get the jab.

“I know a lot of friends I have and even some family members and they are coming down with COVID and they’re not having a pleasant experience with it. I really am imploring people… begging people, to take it seriously. Take the health protocols seriously and protect yourself, protect your family, protect your friends… protect the whole country by adhering to them properly and if you haven’t been vaccinated go and get vaccinated… It is not a guarantee, but it significantly reduces the level of of infection and sickness,” Panton said.
He said a new batch of vaccines will arrive on Friday’s BA flight and the vaccination clinics will resume next week.
He encouraged people to make use of the supplies, as he pointed out that a number of people who are not hospitalised are still very ill with COVID.

Take COVID seriously

“I need people to understand that this is not something that they should take lightly. We have people who are quite sick at home feeling like this is the worst they’ve felt in their lifetime and this is not something for people to play with… they shouldn’t take
lightly,” he said.
Panton said recently a tabletop stress test with local health providers was undertaken and based on that exercise, the local limits could be stretched should a surge of hospitalised cases cross over 250.
He added that if there was a “massive surge” of people being admitted to hospital of up to 150 people, “it could be handled. We would have to get somewhere in the region of 200 to 250-plus people, I think, before you start to push against the limits of what the country as a whole could handle right now.”
He pointed out that the number of hospitalisations will fluctuate on a daily basis, and there will be people discharged, but he wants residents to bear in mind that the objective is to limit the potential for spread and getting infected.
“That’s the one way that we can make sure that we help to protect people,” he said.

Play it safe over the long weekend

Panton urged residents to be sensible as they enjoy the holiday weekend and limit interactions to keep themselves safe.

“I am quite concerned about people having indoor parties and not social distancing and, in particular, not wearing masks. I want us to get to the end of this weekend safely and I want our numbers to not reflect any significant increase as a result of this,” he said.

The premier said Cayman will not see the weekend numbers initially as there would be at least a three-to-four-day lag with the holiday on Monday.

Therefore, he said, it’s likely to be the end of next week before Cayman will see what the outcome of this weekend would be.

“But I want us to work together. I want us to all be responsible and bear in mind that collectively our efforts and our behaviour has an outcome on the overall public health of the country,” he said.

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2 COMMENTS

  1. The Premier is exactly right. It’s a choice between two new normals:
    1. We are forever closed to travel and everyone who comes here must quarantine.
    2. We get the highest vax and booster penetration possible and we open, accepting the new World reality that COVID is everywhere, and here to stay.
    The World has already proven there is no middle-ground unfortunately.

  2. While the PM lives in Lala land, he spews opinions and doesn’t look at the facts.

    Will someone at the Compass please forward the article with survey results from 15 November titled Tourism business still facing cancellations, survey shows. Maybe then Government will start to understand consumers and tourists. Maybe then a plan can be developed to address the issues versus sticking our head in the sand!