No sick patients waiting on COVID-19 tests
Cayman has received a new batch of reagents, bringing local stocks of COVID-19 test kits to around 540, but this is not enough to increase the level of testing, according to local health officials. The question of how widespread the virus is in this community therefore remains unanswered, though at this stage there are no sick patients in the hospital with, or suspected of having, COVID-19. HSA CEO Lizette Yearwood said this was a good sign that the curfew has been working.
During Saturday’s press briefing Medical Officer of Health Dr Samuel Williams-Rodriguez said there were no new results to report, but a further 19 samples are currently being tested and those results should be available tomorrow. He also confirmed that no one in Cayman is currently in any hospital suffering from serious COVID-19 symptoms and awaiting a test result.
Most positive patients have recovered. Those with a travel history to a country with coronavirus cases who have mild symptoms and are awaiting tests or test results are in isolation at home or at government facilities.
Nevertheless, because we have no real way to measure the extent of asymptomatic carriers and where they are in the community, the government is keen to ensure that people understand that the risk is still very, very real. While the number of negative results remains high and there is no concrete evidence yet of community spread, Premier Alden McLaughlin said Saturday that we simply do not know how bad it could be.
Meanwhile, Health City Cayman Islands has now opened for limited emergency admissions after most of those who were tested for the coronavirus were negative. But alongside the Health Services Authority, it is preparing to test people, and has created an isolation wing to to be ready in the event that the government’s lockdown fails to contain the virus and the pandemic tales hold.
Together with the HSA facilities and the CTMH Doctors Hospital’s plans to test and also take patients, Cayman is well placed to cope with an outbreak, given the population size. However, preparing for the worst case scenario, where the virus begins rampant transmission, as it has in many European countries and the United States, Yearwood said the HSA was looking at potential buildings that could serve as a temporary hospital for the overflow if needed.
The premier warned that, while the government’s strategy of containment may be limiting whatever community spread we do have, the situation is “constantly evolving” and government must be ready to impose even more restrictive measures if necessary.
“We can’t be certain the virus is not here,” McLaughlin said, as he accepted that the current curfews and restrictive measures were impacting the economy. “But we can rebuild our economy,” he said, indicating that the potential loss of life could not be repaired. As far as he was aware, he said, Jesus was the only person who had ever “raised the dead”.
Once again the country’s leader repeated his plea for people in Cayman to act as if the virus is already among us and that anyone could be infected. Consequently, everyone should stay at home.
Most positive patients have recovered. Those with a travel history to a country with coronavirus cases who have mild symptoms and are awaiting tests or test results are in isolation at home or at government facilities.
Nevertheless, because we have no real way to measure the extent of asymptomatic carriers and where they are in the community, the government is keen to ensure that people understand that the risk is still very, very real. While the number of negative results remains high and there is no concrete evidence yet of community spread, Premier Alden McLaughlin said Saturday that we simply do not know how bad it could be.
Meanwhile, Health City Cayman Islands has now opened for limited emergency admissions after most of those who were tested for the coronavirus were negative. But alongside the Health Services Authority, it is preparing to test people, and has created an isolation wing to to be ready in the event that the government’s lockdown fails to contain the virus and the pandemic tales hold.
Together with the HSA facilities and the CTMH Doctors Hospital’s plans to test and also take patients, Cayman is well placed to cope with an outbreak, given the population size. However, preparing for the worst case scenario, where the virus begins rampant transmission, as it has in many European countries and the United States, Yearwood said the HSA was looking at potential buildings that could serve as a temporary hospital for the overflow if needed.
The premier warned that, while the government’s strategy of containment may be limiting whatever community spread we do have, the situation is “constantly evolving” and government must be ready to impose even more restrictive measures if necessary.
“We can’t be certain the virus is not here,” McLaughlin said, as he accepted that the current curfews and restrictive measures were impacting the economy. “But we can rebuild our economy,” he said, indicating that the potential loss of life could not be repaired. As far as he was aware, he said, Jesus was the only person who had ever “raised the dead”.
Once again the country’s leader repeated his plea for people in Cayman to act as if the virus is already among us and that anyone could be infected. Consequently, everyone should stay at home.
