Public health officials are on the verge of declaring Little Cayman COVID-19 free with 92% of the population tested and confirmed negative for the virus.

Premier Alden McLaughlin said this would mean the curfew could soon be lifted and the shelter-in-place regulations revised for Little Cayman, possibly as early as tomorrow.

He said he was optimistic Cayman Brac could soon follow.

However, he said restrictions on travel between all three islands would remain in place.

“This is a tremendous milestone,” the premier said of the latest results, thanking the public for their “incredible cooperation” to make it happen.

Describing the past two months as the hardest of his 59 years, McLaughlin said “faith and belief that we are doing the right thing” had helped him and his government get through.

“We are not at the end of what we believe will be an immense struggle, but I am satisfied now that we have turned a corner,” he said.

Though restrictions in Grand Cayman have been eased as part of the first phase of restarting the local economy, McLaughlin said there it was not yet safe to reopen domestic activity on the main island.

Around 6,000 workers, including landscape gardeners and pet-groomers, went back to work Monday. The restrictions could be further eased in two weeks if there are no setbacks and if results from widespread testing continue to be encouraging.

Screening tests continue across Grand Cayman, with essential workers – a category which expanded on Monday as restrictions began to be lifted – able to get tests at the Cayman Islands Hospital or CTMH Doctors Hospital.

Test results

More than 2,500 people have been tested across all three islands. Of those, 75 people have tested positive, 31 have symptoms, 27 are asymptomatic, and 14 have fully recovered and have passed exit-tests showing they no longer have the virus. One individual, the Italian cardiac patient who was the first case recorded on the islands, died.

There is no one currently in hospital requiring treatment for COVID-19 symptoms. Two people with coronavirus are in-patients at Health City where they are receiving care for other conditions.

With thousands of people going back to work, Cayman’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Lee said it was especially important that people continued to observe social distancing and hand hygiene, and wear masks.

Though there are not many cases cropping up at the moment, he said, one case could quickly spiral into multiple cases. He said a single case could “spring forth” into a firestorm that could rage across the islands.

Though it is not yet mandatory to wear masks, he said people should be wearing them any time they go out in public.

McLaughlin said there had not yet been enough tests carried out to determine that the virus was not “still among us” in Grand Cayman. He said people would need to be patient as it would take longer to reopen the most populous of Cayman’s three islands than the smaller Sister Islands.

He said Cayman’s borders would likely remain closed for at least another six months, but some semblance of domestic normalcy could return. He said Cayman would be living in a “bubble” as long as the virus continued to wreak havoc in the US.

Health Minister Dwayne Seymour said masks would soon become mandatory in all three islands.

Adjustments to regulations

Government announced some adjustments to the curfew regime Friday, with those measures coming into effect Monday.

While most businesses remain closed and the majority of residents are required to stay at home, the categories of people allowed to work has been expanded.

Pool-servicing and mobile car-wash companies are among the businesses that have been allowed to reopen, with many getting back to work Monday morning.

Money-transfer services and the postal service have reopened as Cayman slowly begins to lift the restrictions put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

McLaughlin said Friday that Cayman was moving from ‘Level 5’ – maximum suppression – to ‘Level 4’ – high suppression. If results from an enhanced widespread testing regime continue to be encouraging, he hopes Cayman can move through the next phases in the process to the final goal – an all-clear diagnosis across all three islands and the full resumption of business locally.

For now, the soft curfew remains in place, meaning most residents are confined to their homes unless they have a written exemption allowing them to be out to work. People can still shop at the supermarket, gas station or corner store three days a week, with the country divided alphabetically. It is permissible to go to the doctor and pharmacy or to pick up food on any day of the week.

The hard curfew, when only emergency services and essential workers with written exemptions are allowed on the road, remains in place in the evenings over a revised time period of 8pm to 5am.