With immediate effect, fully vaccinated people in a household with COVID-positive members are no longer required to isolate so long as they return negative results on lateral flow tests.
This change is among a series of revisions the Public Health Department has made to isolation and quarantine requirements for residents and visitors who are not required to quarantine.
The department said the changes were being made because the Omicron variant is now the dominant strain being found in COVID test results in Cayman.
The revisions come amid growing discontent in the community about what have been described as “onerous” restrictions in response to the Omicron variant and increasing numbers of locally transmitted COVID cases, at a time when other jurisdictions were loosening their isolation restrictions.
Until today, a vaccinated person with a negative test living with a person who tested positive for Omicron had been mandated to quarantine for 10-14 days, while negative people living with individuals with the Delta strain had been allowed to move about freely if they returned negative LFT test results.
The Public Health Department said in a statement Tuesday morning that the changes were “intended to minimise the impact on families and businesses”.
As of Monday, 10 Jan., there were 3,430 active cases of COVID in Cayman, accounting for 4.82% of the population, including seven in hospital. Since the first case of Omicron was reported here in December, 1,615 people have tested positive for that strain in PCR tests.
New rules
Vaccinated Positives
- Fully vaccinated individuals who test positive for COVID-19 must isolate for 10 days, with a negative PCR test required on day 11 to exit isolation.
Vaccinated contacts
- Vaccinated individuals who are primary contacts of COVID-19 positive people must conduct daily lateral flow testing for 10 days, but may continue usual activities.
Unvaccinated positives
- Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated persons who test positive for COVID-19 must isolate for 14 days, with a negative PCR test required on day 15 to exit isolation.
Unvaccinated contacts
- Unvaccinated individuals in the household of a positive must quarantine for 14 days.
- Public Health later clarified that unvaccinated children under the age of 18, who share a home with a positive case, can attend school if they continue to return negative LFT tests over 10 days.
A primary contact is defined by Public Health as a person who has had (from two days before and up to 14 days after the case’s positive result) face-to-face within six feet of a COVID-positive person for 15 minutes or more in a single day; had direct contact, such as kissing, hugging, shaking hands; or living in the same household.
A fully vaccinated person is defined as an individual who has had at least two doses of a COVID vaccine.
‘Remain vigilant’
“As the pandemic continues, Public Health will adapt its practices and policies to best suit the needs of the community. We ask that the public remain vigilant and in tune with government communication channels so they are following the most current guidance at any given time,” Interim Chief Medical Officer Dr. Autilia Newton said in the statement.
She added, “We rely on individuals to report any positive LFTs to Public Health, and on the community and their employers to support them in this.”
Under the rules, people who test positive through certified lateral flow testing or a home kit are still required to isolate and take a PCR test with the Health Services Authority at the next available testing clinic.
Testing clinics for these individuals are held daily from 1-2pm at the South Sound Community Centre.
Private flights an option
Health officials emphasised that individuals with travel declarations who test positive while in the Cayman Islands must follow the new process, and that those travellers, and their primary contacts, must receive a negative PCR exit test from the Public Health Department, before they can be permitted to board a commercial flight departing the Cayman Islands.
Those who are positive, would like to leave the country, and are able to secure a private flight, should apply to Travel Cayman for special permission by emailing [email protected].
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10 days quarantine for asymptotic vaccinated px is still too onerous when every other progressive liberal democracy is moving to 5 days.
“Health officials emphasised that individuals with travel declarations who test positive while in the Cayman Islands must follow the new process, said those travellers, and their primary contacts, must receive a negative PCR exit test from the Public Health Department, before they can be permitted to board a commercial flight departing the Cayman Islands.”
Here’s the problem – you can continue to test positive for much longer than 14 days. We know this happens and it seems to happen frequently in Cayman. A rapid test is accepted to return to the US – after 14 days of quarantine, a visitor from the US should be allowed to leave Cayman with a negative LFT. And requiring the contacts of a person who tested positive to also receive a negative PCR before being allowed to board a commercial flight is yet another over-the-top rule.
At least they have come to their senses and realized the rules should not be different for Omicron vs Delta.
This is a valid question. If the USA only requires a negative rapid-antigen (lateral flow) test obtained within 24 hours of boarding a plane to the US, why does Cayman require a PCR culture for that passenger to leave? Restrictive rules for testing in order to ARRIVE in Cayman are bad enough; why continue those restrictive rules to LEAVE Cayman? Is it because the government makes more money off a culture than a LFT?
The difference in quarantine between vaxed and non vaxed positives is exactly four days? Did anyone notify the virus of this? As usual, no real science behind any of the decisions at the CIG.
Not a lot of sympathy for those who still aren’t fully vaccinated. You chose to roll the dice (by declining a free & safe vaccine), and lost. Be thankful the worst thing that happened to you was having to quarantine.
On a related note, can someone tell me why people who are fully vaccinated, have their boosters, and both test negative still have to quarantine for 14 days upon returning to Cayman just because they have a 2 year old kid?
How does it still make sense for fully vaccinated parents to have to quarantine for 14 days when travelling with young children who cannot be vaccinated?
You have can go about your normal life with daily LFTs if a household member is positive but even if nobody in a ‘travelling-house with unvaccinated kids’ is positive, you still all have to isolate for 14 day? It’s madness.
At the very least let the vaccinated parents go about their lives with daily LFTs and only the unvaccinated stay at home
Why do returning residents have to quarantine just because they have kids? It would be better off to have a positive kid, than it would be to have a negative kid that traveled. How does that make any sense at all?
The rules are less strict if my kid is positive … All I have to do is self test LFT really. Easy peasy.
But if I travel, to a country with less COVID, I’m suddenly imprisoned for 14 days because my kid is negative?!?
Absurd.
As always, Cayman, a disorganized mess!
What about those who already had covid? All adults in my family had symptomatic covid in May 2020. None got sick since then. We don’t take any precautions, still all are healthy even after being around those with Omicron. We don’t believe we need to get the jabs. Do I have to quarantine when visiting Cayman?
The biggest problem seems to be, as usual, that the left hand at CIG has no idea what the right hand is doing.
CIG seems to have suffered a major Stroke!
“Health officials emphasised that individuals with travel declarations who test positive while in the Cayman Islands must follow the new process, and that those travellers, and their primary contacts, must receive a negative PCR exit test from the Public Health Department, before they can be permitted to board a commercial flight departing the Cayman Islands”
Not good. The PCR test can stay positive for 8 weeks. So a traveler would be trapped in the Cayman Islands? All it takes to fly into the US is a negative Rapid/LFT.