Local COVID cases rise to 17, including 10 children
Cayman’s locally transmitted COVID-19 cases have now crossed the double digit mark, to 17, as Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Lee confirmed that 10 people are now connected to the outbreak at George Town Primary School.
Lee, speaking in a video update posted on government’s CIGTV YouTube page, said there were nine community transmission positives Wednesday, taking the overall locally transmitted cases to 17, including 10 children from the school.
Two travellers also tested positive Wednesday.
Lee said 1,752 tests were conducted at various labs in Grand Cayman and, of the nine positive community tests returned, seven children were from the George Town Primary School.
“There were five asymptomatic children that were detected on screening at the George Town Primary School and one additional adult, who is, in fact, related to the adult reported yesterday. This brings it to a total of 10 people we believe are related to the George Town Primary School outbreak,” he said.
Those two adults, Lee later said in his update, were found to be the primary contacts in the outbreak at the school.
On Tuesday, Lee reported three cases at George Town Primary, including the initial case involving a student who tested positive on Monday, that triggered the closure of the school.
School to remain closed
Lee said George Town Primary will remain closed “until clearance to return to school is given by Public Health”.
He added that all households with students or teaches at the school “are reminded that they must continue to isolate at home, whether test results have been received or not, until they are advised they can leave by a Public Health official.”
Cayman’s active COVID-19 cases now stand at 43, including local and imported cases, of which 10 are showing signs of the virus and 33 are asymptomatic.
“We have eight children in total [confirmed at George Town Primary]. There are five from Year Six, one from Year Five and two from Year Four,” Lee said.
Earlier Wednesday, the Health Services Authority announced one of its staffers at the East End Health Centre had tested positive for COVID-19. It forced the temporary closure of the centre.
Following the results, health officials have concluded that a total of 12 households have been involved in the two apparently separate outbreaks across the island, Lee said.
“This remains, as far as we know, to only be two distinct outbreaks. One in the community, that was reported last week on Wednesday, and one currently from the George Town Primary School,” he added.
Patients managing well
The female patient admitted to hospital last week – the first confirmed case of community transmission – remains stable, Lee said.
“She is slightly unwell, as she was when she was admitted, but in a stable, steady state and not requiring any additional oxygen therapy in order for her to breathe on her own,” he said.
Public Health officials, he said, have not been able to detect any travel history related to the George Town Primary School event.
Five of the children have mild symptoms and two of the adults as well, “but they are all managing well”, Lee said.
Watch Dr. Lee’s report here:
Everyone who has been isolating because of the outbreak, he said, has been asked to continue to do so until further results are returned.
“At that time, Public Health will issue a message saying what should happen. Those who are isolated as a result of being a primary contact already know, and are already in much more immediate communication with Public Health and I’d like to stress that if you’re not one of those people, then it’s likely that you should be able to be released later on today,” Lee said.
Vaccinations continue upward trend
Lee said vaccinations continue to increase, and a total of 104,304 COVID-19 doses have been administered in the Cayman Islands.
Of these, 53,934, or 76% of the estimated total population of 71,106, have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 50,370, or 71% of the population, have completed the two-dose course.