SECOND COVID DEATH IN CAYMAN

It was confirmed this week that another person had succumbed to COVID-19 in Cayman bringing the number of deaths to two since the disease showed up on our shores in March this year.

While that’s a small number compared to COVID-related deaths in other countries in the region, concerns have been heightened about the risk of fatality resulting from the virus.

The deceased was said to be a woman traveller who had been hospitalised for over a month after returning from Jamaica.

She had tested positive while in quarantine.

A government coronavirus update earlier this week reported that there were 14 active COVID-19 cases as at November 17th but none were hospitalised.

Of that number one person was displaying symptoms while the other 13 were asymptomatic.

With the limited reopening of the borders, there has been a corresponding uptick in the number of confirmed cases associated with flights coming in mainly from the UK, US and Jamaica.

Up to earlier this week, there were 872 persons in isolation and testing was getting close to the 50,000 mark with 49,852 tests now carried out.

The figures then showed that Cayman had recorded 257 confirmed cases since the pandemic started of which 241 had recovered.

The Public Health Department has explained that it defines symptomatic patients as those persons showing symptoms 10 days after symptom onset, plus at least 3 additional days without symptoms (including without fever and without respiratory symptoms).

Persons will then be retested and must obtain two negative tests 24 hours apart.

Asymptomatic cases are determined 10 days after a positive test for COVID-19. Persons will be then be retested and must obtain two negative tests 24 hours apart.

The governments test, isolate and trace regime has recently been the topic of much debate associated with whether or not the opening of the borders should be relaxed even further especially considering the upcoming Christmas and peak winter tourist season.

However, indications from the government are that there’s not likely to be any significant deviation from the current policy.

Globally, many countries are intensifying the fight against the virus which has now moved into a second serious wave of the outbreak.

The United States which now has more than 11 million confirmed cases is the country with the highest number of infections in the world.

More Americans are now hospitalised with the disease than in the first wave and about 1,0000 persons a day are said to be dying from the disease.

More than 246,000 people have died in the US from Covid-19, according to Johns Hopkins and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) fears that the death toll could be as high as 282,000 by early next month.

In the UK, England continues on lockdown until December 2nd with targeted restrictions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as cases and fatalities increase.

However, the global grim picture of the pandemic has been tempered with the good news over the past few days of new vaccines in development showing very promising signs of success.