COVID-19 - Epidemiological Week 27

3 - 9 July 2022 (Data as of 09-07-2022)

The Public Health department has published its weekly Public Health Spotlight on Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases today Thursday 14 July 2022.

International Situation

COVID-19 reported cases continue to increase globally, with a decrease reported in deaths internationally by 12%.

Cayman Islands Local Trends

Key epidemiological metrics have increased over the past week. There has been a 13% increase in the number of new cases from 347 to 424, and the case rate has increased to 611 cases per 100,000 population from 539 cases per 100,000. Following the change in COVID-19 regulations, there has been a notable drop in testing which has decreased by 36%, from 1,360 tests conducted in Epi Week 26 to 876 tests conducted in Epi Week 27. The combination of an increase in cases and decrease in testing has resulted in an increase in the test positivity from 28% to 48%. The microbiology lab has provided genomic sequencing results for a sample of 47 positive isolates giving insight into the sub-linage information for the Omicron variant circulating in Cayman Islands. The sub-lineage BA.5 has been detected for the first time, which has been reported by the UK to be driving the recent wave of infections. The sub-lineage BE.1 has also been detected, which was first detected in March 2022 in Germany and has since been identified in 47 countries worldwide. We anticipate there is shift occurring from the BA.2 to the BA.5 Omicron sub-lineage in Cayman.

Hospital Admissions

Two new hospital admissions were registered during Epi Week 27, a decrease from six in the previous week. Of the two new admissions, both were admitted due to COVID-19 morbidity. A total of 6 patients required inpatient treatment, which decreased from 14 patients in the previous week.

Vaccination

During Epi. Week 27, there were 51 adults who received a COVID-19 vaccine (20 first dose and 31 second dose).

Key Message

There is clear evidence of a reduction in testing since the recent change in COVID-19 regulations, however cases are increasing. It is really important that symptomatic individuals get a PCR test to understand the spread of COVID-19 in the community. Furthermore, the genomic sequencing enables insight into what variants are circulating, and the presence of BA.5 Omicron sub-lineage and the novel BE.1 variant support our understanding of a shift away from the dominant BA.2 Omicron sub-lineage. In the UK BA.5 has been associated with an increase in COVID-19 incidence, however the impact on vaccine effectiveness is not yet known.