Starting 1 March, Cayman’s Public Health Department will no longer require confirmation PCR testing for COVID-19 cases, marking its strongest push yet to return to ‘normal’ and move away from the pandemic.
Additionally, the department will be dropping the requirement for reporting positive COVID lateral flow test results, and local COVID testing centres will cease operations on all three islands on the same date.
However, Public Health said in a statement over the weekend that it recommends positive COVID cases and their primary contacts continue to follow the existing advice on isolation and testing.
“Relatively small numbers of people are now seeking voluntary confirmation PCR tests when LFT COVID positive, and this service is no longer providing useful epidemiology information. I encourage persons in the community to still test themselves with [an] LFT device if they are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and adhere to our recommended isolation requirements,” said Chief Medical Officer Dr. Nick Gent.
Doctors Hospital chairman Dr. Yaron Rado confirmed that the private facility, which had been assisting with testing, closed its COVID-19 clinic last year.
Under Public Health’s recommended guidelines, vaccinated and unvaccinated COVID-19-positive individuals should isolate for six days and leave isolation on day seven as long as they have no symptoms. The day of the original positive LFT test is considered day zero.
When it comes to vaccinated and unvaccinated contacts, those who are primary contacts of COVID-19-positive persons must conduct daily lateral flow testing for six days, but may continue usual activities, Public Health said.
These changes to COVID testing come one week after the Health Ministry announced that it will now report information related to local COVID 19-related deaths on a monthly basis through its Spotlight newsletter.
The 17 Feb. issue noted that there were 17 COVID-19 hospital admissions in January 2023, similar to the previous month’s total of 16.
“This includes individuals admitted for morbidity relating to their SARS-CoV-2 infection and those who test positive for COVID-19 when screened on admission and receiving hospital care for other medical needs,” the report said. “Two COVID-19 patients were admitted to critical care during January 2023. There were no COVID-19 deaths reported in January, and two COVID-19 deaths were reported in the previous month.”
An additional 432 autumn 2022/2023 boosters were administered during January.
It stated that genomic sequencing results from 83 positive SARS-CoV-2 samples in early December continue to present Omicron as the only variant currently circulating in the Cayman Islands.
“Among identified sub-variants, BA.5 and its descendant lineages are the most commonly detected (86%),” the report said, adding that this trend aligns with “the global picture, with BA.5 and its descendent lineages reported as dominant globally by [the World Health Organization]”.
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