A 73-year-old unvaccinated male who had tested positive for COVID-19 died at Cayman Islands Hospital on Saturday, 13 Nov., making it the first coronavirus-related death since the start of 2021.
In a statement issued by the Cayman Islands Government Information Services on Sunday, 14 Nov., Premier Wayne Panton said the man’s passing was not due to COVID-19.
“Sadly, the patient had pre-existing health conditions with recurring hospital admissions over the past year,” said Panton.
“He was most recently admitted on 11 November with health issues unrelated to COVID-19. His case was reported in the daily COVID-19 figures as one of the patients in the Critical Care Unit on Friday, 12 November. He was unvaccinated against COVID-19.”
Although the cause of death was not COVID-19, Panton said his passing is being counted as part of the pandemic-related statistics due to his positive status.
The man, whose identity has not yet been released, is the third COVID-19 positive patient to have died in Cayman.
His death comes nearly one year after a woman, who was a resident of Cayman, died on 15 Nov., 2020, after a three month battle with the illness. The first person to have died was an Italian cruse ship passenger in March 2020, who was rushed to Health City to be treated for a heart attack. The passenger would go on to develop COVID-19 and died at the hospital.
When offering his condolences to the family, Panton called for the country to unite in respect of the grieving family.
“Let us set aside the arguments, debates and division and focus instead on displaying our empathy, care and kindness to those who are grieving right now,” said the premier. “Ï ask that in a display of humanity and compassion we respect the privacy of the bereaved family as the mourn.”
The man’s death comes less than one week before Cayman’s borders are set to reopen on 20 Nov., and at a time when the country is witnessing the highest spike of community transmission.
As of Friday, 12 Nov., Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Lee reported there were 2,849 active cases of COVID-19, and 3,940 people in isolation as a result of those cases.
“Even though our numbers of hospitalizations and serious illness have remained low throughout the pandemic, the loss of even one life is too great,” said Panton. “I wish to acknowledge the hard work and care of the medical team who have been fighting valiantly to care for each and every patient in our hospitals. There is no doubt the past few hours have been tough for them as well.”
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All death is tragic and condolences to the family. But here we have a chronically ill, unvaccinated senior, hospitalized for other reasons, who died with Covid not because of it alone.
Oh, and your headline is good clickbait but it is misleading, he was not a hospital patient due to Covid, as the Premier himself says.
I wonder if the Premier will announce every death on the island from all causes going forward. Why not?
Thank you to the Premier and to all those who have expressed their condolences. My father Mark Everett Stanley, Sr. lived here for almost 30 years. He loved this island and all of the people here. Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Sarah Piña, Ph.D.
Daughter of Mark Everett Stanley, Sr.