Bryan: Any cruise ship that poses risk to Cayman will be turned away

Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan has said community safety remains a top priority for government and, if any approved cruise ship is found to pose a risk to Cayman, it will be turned away.

Bryan, speaking on Wednesday’s episode of the Cayman Compass Facebook show ‘The Resh Hour’, gave the assurance as he acknowledged concerns within the community about the return of cruise ships on 21 March.

“Anybody who gets off will have to follow the normal protocols as everywhere else… masks indoors, social distancing where you do not have to wear a mask and all the other protocols,” he said.

Bryan added that, as required by the Maritime Act, ships have to issue a medical declaration to the Port Authority before they receive authorisation to disembark here; therefore, captains will have to disclose any COVID cases before they can dock.

Permission will be granted, following input from Cayman’s medical professionals, he added.

As an example, he said if “God forbid, they come and they say, ‘Oh, by the way, we have 35 cases on board,’ I will be like… I’m sorry, thank you very much. Safe travels, but that’s just too much. But if, for example, a ship comes in, they say, ‘Oh, by the way, we just found out that somebody was not well this morning and that person and their husband has been tested and they’re in quarantine now,’ do you stop the whole ship from coming if that person has been caught in isolation?”

That decision, he said, “will be left to the medical professionals here in Cayman to advise the officer on duty as to whether we decline that ship or we allow the ship to disembark”.

A total of 21 ships have been approved to sail to Cayman starting with Disney Magic, which has a maximum capacity of 2,700, on 21 March.

Bryan said government opted to begin with four weeks of cruises, so they will be able to assess what works and what doesn’t before resuming fully.

A total of 74,208 passengers are projected for this period.

Bryan argued that even though 21 ships may seem like a lot, “most of them are not operating past 60% or 70% [capacity],” he said. “So we still think it’s going to be a soft [beginning]… You will see a gradual growth – and that’s what we hope to have – so we can slowly… [get] people back to work,” he said.

Protocols to be finalised

Bryan said work on the protocols for the return of the cruise ships is continuing and should be released as soon as Cabinet approves it.

He said residents can be assured that steps will be taken to protect against any spread of the virus.

Cruise ship passengers, he said, have to be tested before they board. However, he said testing before disembarking would not be practicable given the number of people on board and the small window of time they have to come onshore.

As one of the protocols, he said, close contacts of any positive individual will not be allowed onshore “regardless if it’s symptomatic or not”.

“We’d rather be more conservative,” he said.

In addition, as he previously shared on the Compass “Beyond the Headlines” radio show on Rooster 101FM last Friday, Bryan reiterated that unvaccinated cruise ship passengers, 12 years and older, will not be allowed to disembark while in Cayman, even if they have a medical exemption.

Ships will also not be sailing at full capacity which reduces the risk of super spreader events, he said.

Bryan said Chief Medical Officer Dr. Autilia Newton has spoken to Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association members about their individual protocols and has approved them to come.

“They have limits on how many people they will be able to sell [packages to],” he said.

The protocols, he said, are more for pre-arrival than after landing because regulations are already in place on island.

Government strongly advocated for lateral flow tests as part of the protocols, he said, but in the end they had to relent on this requirement.

“We see that no other jurisdiction was able to convince them to do the same; that’s ideally the best thing to do. Right before you get off we know that you’re all right and everybody feels comfortable.

“But we feel comfortable enough with the protocols on the ship, based on what they have done and what they continue to do, as well as the testing right before they come [on], that the high majority of times people will be safe enough to come into our shores,” he said.

“We have to be realistic about our expectations and we try our best to consider the benefits versus the risk.”

Bryan said he expects the cruise protocols to be ready in “short order” and it will be shared with the public via a media briefing.

He advised those who may feel concerned about exposure to cruise shippers to stay away from the places these visitors may frequent when on island.

“Continue to do what you think you need to do to protect yourself and your families. Get vaccinated… I know some people don’t want to do that; but get tested on a regular basis, stay as healthy as you can and keep your immune system strong.

“And if you do those things, as well as the virus itself starting to wane… I think that we can learn to live with that and survive and have business running where Caymanians can survive economically,” he added.