Newly reported COVID cases are continuing to fall, with the Public Health Department recording 48 cases on Sunday, 13 Feb., compared to 89 cases on Saturday and 103 on Friday.
As of Monday evening, 11 people with COVID were being treated as inpatients in hospital, 10 of whom were unvaccinated, according to a Public Health update.
The total number of active cases in the Cayman Islands was not released. The previous update, released on Friday, stated that there were 5,423 active cases.
On the Sister Islands, 13 new cases have been detected since last Thursday, Public Health reported in its update, bringing the total number of cases there to 480 since the start of the pandemic.
According to Public Health’s weekly situation report released last week, Omicron is the predominant strain of COVID-19 being recorded on island, and there has been at least one case detected of a new version of that strain, called sub-variant BA.2 and dubbed the ‘Stealth Omicron’.
The new variant has earned the nickname ‘Stealth Omicron’ because it has genetic mutations that could make it harder to distinguish from the Delta variant using PCR tests, as compared to the original version of Omicron.
Anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 in a lateral flow test is required, under current regulations, to report the result of that test to Public Health and then undergo a confirmatory PCR test. If confirmed as a positive case, the person is required to self-isolate.
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Can we please get an update on how many of those 48 positives were from travellers doing their day 2 / 5 / 7.
If the number continues to be quite low, despite all the new United Airlines flights, and increased flights incoming, perhaps it is time to get rid of the LFT day 2, 5, and 7, and return to just requiring an entry test.
As usual, the data released to the public is selective at best. Robert R. Makes a good point. By the end of February UA and AA will have made plenty of flights to/from the US in addition to an increased flow on Cayman Airways. If by then the positive numbers have not increased, then logic dictates that the 2/4/7 tests be abandoned. It is probably the most crucial deterrent for visitors to the country. Why come for a week’s vacation and risk getting a false positive half way through it and being forced to remain against your will?