By Staff Writer
What the Health Services Authority (HSA) described as “a small number of staff” have been isolated due to potential exposure to a COVID-19 positive patient at the hospital said to be “highly symptomatic”.
The statement on Tuesday by HSA CEO, Lizzette Yearwood did not state the number of staff, but said the HSA was “acting out of an abundance of caution”.
“It is our top priority to keep our patients and staff safe” the statement said, adding that “anyone potentially exposed directly or indirectly has been placed in isolation.”
The HSA CEO said the staff members who have been directed to isolate will be monitored and tested following standard Public Health protocol.
In an update on Monday, Chief Medical Officer, Dr John Lee, reported that “a traveller toward the end of the 14-day quarantine has been admitted to the Critical Care Unit at the Cayman Islands Hospital suffering from symptoms attributed to COVID-19 disease.”
The person was said to be in a stable condition.
It has been suggested that the person might not have been vaccinated given that the CMO’s report said they were “toward the end of the 14-day quarantine”, which is a requirement for travellers who are not vaccinated.
New quarantine regulations come into effect this Wednesday (June 23rd) reducing the mandatory quarantine to five days for verifiably vaccinated incoming travellers alongside the reinstatement of 72-hour pre-arrival PCR testing; and the removal of mandatory sampling and PCR testing on arrival.
All travellers must be tested before exiting quarantine, and un-vaccinated travellers will have to complete a 14-day quarantine period.
Several questions have been raised regarding the circumstances surrounding the “highly symptomatic” patient who is being treated in ICU.
Among them is; where was the patient in quarantine and if any other persons other than the HSA might have been exposed.
It was also not immediately clear which strain of the virus the patient is infected with.
Further official updates are awaited.
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