Governor Martyn Roper, Premier Wayne Panton and Opposition Leader Roy McTaggart have offered condolences to the family of a 73-year-old man who tested positive for COVID-19 but died due to an undisclosed, underlying illness.
The man, whose identity has not been released, was a patient at Cayman Islands Hospital where he died on Saturday, 13 Nov., after being hospitalised for the underlying illness.
“On behalf of my wife Jane, my family as well as the Government and people of the Cayman Islands I wish to offer my sincere condolences to the family and friends of this beloved member of our community who has left us,” said Premier Panton in a statement issued by Government Information Services.
The statement added, “We live in a community that places the highest value on life. We are all interconnected and our lives intersect in countless ways. No doubt, this individual leaves behind family members and loved ones who are deeply impacted by this loss. Because we value each life and each individual, now is not the time to reduce his life to a mere statistic.”
His passing was announced on Sunday by Premier Wayne Panton, who said reporting procedures require the man to be counted as a death related to COVID-19, as the man had tested positive for the disease, even though COVID-19 was not the cause of his death.
Governor Roper, who is currently in the UK, offered condolences to the family, and asked the community to come together.
“The Governor recognises this is very sad news for everyone in our community at a time when we are grappling with a large number of cases of Covid in the community,” reads the governor’s statement.
“The Governor paid tribute to our health and medical teams who are working hard to protect everyone. Cayman is a resilient community. We should continue to show kindness and respect to one another as we deal with the challenges of Covid and move forward with the border reopening.”
Opposition Leader Roy McTaggart also offered condolences to the family.
“On behalf of my colleagues in the Opposition and our families, I send deepest condolences to the grieving family of the gentleman who passed away last night. This is indeed a very sad day, and I pray that the Lord will comfort them and grant them peace as they grieve,” he said.
The 75-year-old, who was unvaccinated, is the first death related to COVID-19 since earlier this year, and takes the total number of COVID-19 related deaths in Cayman to three.
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Precisely what international reporting procedures require the man to be counted as a death related to COVID-19?
While every death is tragic, why is government and opposition focusing so much on this death because the person tested positive for covid. More people have died in traffic accidents than with covid, yet has government offered any condolences for the families of those individuals? What about individuals that have died from heart attack, pneumonia, drowning? Government needs to worry about the effects of making COVID bigger than it is and the fear that they are creating. People die everyday from various causes, singling out a death when the person had other health issues but also tested positive is fear mongering.
Was this man vaccinated? Seems like a pertinent detail. Everyone wonders.