Civil Service plan to ensure Cayman reopens

At last week’s press conference, Deputy Governor Franz Manderson outlined the plan that he was leading in order to get the Cayman Islands to a full state of readiness, in preparation for the borders’ opening on 20th November. The plan, called Cayman Islands COVID-19 Critical Preparedness, Readiness and Response Plan, included a statement of intent by Cabinet to safely and responsibly reopen the country to vaccinated travellers, without requiring isolation upon arrival. They also intended that the plan would allow the country to remain open while minimising the number of hospitalisations and COVID-19 related deaths, while at the same time balancing the country’s socio-economic needs. They would be working collaboratively and transparently with the Public Service and other key stakeholders to advance the plan and to instil public confidence in the Government's ability to keep the country safe, the Deputy Governor outlined.

The purpose of the plan was to establish what “readiness” looked like. Mr Manderson spoke of the key categories, readiness indicators and conditions of satisfaction that had to be met, in order for the Cayman Islands to be in a state of readiness to transition to Phase 4 of the reopening plan on 20th November.

“The aim is to transition in a manner that minimises the number of hospitalisations and deaths,” he confirmed.

The Civil Service had been tasked with identifying any key gaps between where Cayman needed to go and where it stood now. The plan would enable them to identify actions needed to be taken to fill any gaps, and the timeframes within which the actions would be taken, to ensure Cayman was in a state of readiness by the target date for transitioning to Phase 4. It would also help to ensure relevant agencies were properly equipped with resources and protocols for the management of their Covid-19-related responsibilities.

Areas which needed to ensure they were ready for opening included healthcare systems and Public Health Services. There needed to be continuity of essential services, as well as a focus on employment and labour matters, educational institutions, travel and border control, tourism, data and analytics and PR and communications.