(CMR) Two additional Health City COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the Cayman at today's afternoon press briefing. This has prompted the government to take additional steps including the implementation of a curfew that will take effect from 9:00 pm til 5:00 am at night. The Governor shared details of the curfew and indicated that anyone in breach of the curfew will be arrested on the spot.
This bring the total number of Cayman confirmed cases to five with the first identified patient, a 68-year-old Italian patient at Health City having died from the illness last weekend.
Additionally, the Premier mentioned that in conjunction with the executive of the National Hazard Management they will be reducing the number of people able to congregate in any public space from 50 to 10 persons. The urgency is the Premier's voice was obvious as he stressed it was time for the community to take this matter seriously and stop seeking to work around the provisions in place.
He mentioned persons congregating at beach locations yesterday including Rum Point and warned the people that the police have been instructed to make arrests and this was their last and final warning. He stressed that all of these measures have been implemented
One area of great concern has been people who are still working in offices and retail spaces. The Premier indicated that whilst they are not prepared to shut down all businesses at this time he is:
“insisting that employers put measures in place to ensure adequate special distancing which we believe is six feet at a minimum.”
He noted that:
“Many workplaces need to have more than 10 people at work but we are encouraging all businesses to send home all non-essential personnel.”
New regulations are to come into force tomorrow with supermarkets and pharmacies. There will be provisions in place to keep staff and customers at least six feet apart as they continue to present a substantial risk of increasing Cayman's chances of having local transmission.
Further, public transportation is closed for two weeks and does not include taxi operators. However, they are limiting passengers to two persons. Every effort should be made to create space between people.
There is an emergency travel helpline set up to assist anyone with an “urgent and compassionate need to travel”.
At this time, the entire island has not been shut down but the panel made it entirely clear that it could be a very real possibility if the island does not get this under control in the next two weeks.
Dr. Lee also made mention that they are monitoring the potential situation with Gary Castillo with the Honduran authorities as they await the final test results for his cause of death. They have already begun tracing who he may have been in contact with.
Breach of the curfew could lead to an arrest and a fine of up to $3,000.
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