CAYMAN EXPERIENCING ANOTHER COVID SURGE

Cayman continues to experience a new surge in COVID-19 cases with the latest official report showing another 466 new cases on Thursday, 6th January.

Of those, 425 are attributed to community spread and the other 45 among travellers.

To date, 89 confirmed cases of the Omicron variant in the Cayman Islands to date, and the number of probable Omicron cases had reached 802 by January 6th.

Four persons were hospitalised with COVID-19 as at midnight on that date with one new admission during this period.

There have been 12 deaths in the Cayman Islands linked to COVID-19.

Meanwhile, in the Sister Islands, 10 new cases have been reported bringing the total there since the outbreak of the pandemic to 181 with 127 having recovered. Out of the total number of cases in the Sister Islands, 112 were fully vaccinated, seven were partially vaccinated, and 62 were unvaccinated.

In all, there have been 58,939 people (83% of 71,106 est. population) who've had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, of which 57,377 individuals (80%) have completed the two-dose course.

Additionally, 17,681 people (representing 24% of the estimated population) have received a third or booster dose.

Overall, the number of reported active COVID cases throughout the Cayman Islands stood at 3,372 with 3,144 of those being linked to community transmission.

The percentage of the population who are confirmed as COVID-positive currently stands at 4.74 percent. The total number of cases recorded since the start of the pandemic stood at 10,186 at the same time.

Public Health reported 1,125 PCR tests were conducted since the last report on Tuesday, 4 January of which 317 were positive. One hundred and forty-nine (149) positive lateral flow tests (LFTs) were also reported during this period.

The current surge of new COVID cases across Cayman, especially the now dominant Omicron variant reflects a pattern of the explosion of this strain of the virus around the world.

While it’s regarded as not as severe as the previous Delta strain, the Omicron variant has forced many people into isolation including those in the workforce, especially the essential services even if they have not tested positive.

The latest report from the Cayman authorities did not state the number of people currently in isolation.

A Cayman Times tracker shows that by the end of September last year there were 1017 persons in isolation, rising to 1,555 by around mid-October, surging to an estimated 4,500 (pending confirmation) by the end of November, and falling back to 3,550 by the end of last month.

The resulting economic and social impact of having people, especially workers and essential staff in isolation has forced many governments, including the UK and US, to relax some of their restrictions and protocols. They argue that the Omicron strain is now so widespread that the only option is to adapt and live with it to avoid further economic dislocation.

On the other hand, other governments such and France and The Netherlands have adopted draconian measures to suppress the rampaging spread.

Despite their different methods for dealing with COVID, in particular this strain, governments around the world are nonetheless placing a heavy emphasis on vaccination.