He said that, given the success of government’s strategy to prevent the virus spreading and save lives, it would be tragic to throw it all away because we were not patient. But when it works, the community will be open in June.

At Friday’s press briefing, McLaughlin talked about the pressure government was under to open the economy, but pointing to the loss of life in the US and the UK as well as Sweden, he noted the unacceptable cost of getting economies open. He questioned the ethos of those countries that were paying a high price in deaths.

“What price are you prepared to pay as a country and as a people to get business back to normal?” he asked rhetorically. “Our ethos here is that, as far as it is humanly possible, we are not prepared to sacrifice any life just to get back to normal,” he said, adding that the position was not going to change.

The premier said the plan to ramp up testing to assess the spread of the virus and isolate, trace and treat those who have it requires a little more sacrifice on the part of the wider the community. But when the strategy succeeds, we will be able to operate here in a way few countries will be able to do for a long time.

He said that if Grand Cayman stayed on track, he had “no doubt” that in another four to six weeks it will be in a position to open up, as has been the case for Little Cayman and Cayman Brac.

McLaughlin explained the strategy has been driven by the respect and admiration that Caymanians have for the elderly. He spoke of their contribution, wisdom and experience. “Elderly people enrich your lives in a way, if you let them, that young people can’t possibly do,” the premier said.

McLaughlin said the ethos here was such that Caymanians were not prepared to sacrifice their old folk for the sake of business. If suggested that for people who believe it doesn’t matter if a few older people are lost to the virus, Cayman might not be the right place for them to live, work or invest.

But with patience, the premier said, within four to six weeks Cayman could be in some “real semblance of normalcy”, as he appealed again for patience. He said that in a week to ten days, more areas of the economy will be opened and people will be able to go into more facilities.

The premier explained that there would be 14 days between the phases to enable government to see if the virus pops up, and then it could shut it down as quickly as possible. But as confidence builds regarding the prevalence of the virus, McLaughlin said things would change.

Answering a questions about why helpers and nannies are still not being allowed into people’s homes, he appealed to everyone to “hang on just a little bit longer”.