Cayman eases COVID-19 restrictions

(CMR) Several COVID-19 restrictions will be eased on Friday, 18 February, as Phase 5 of the Cayman Islands reopening plan continues, Premier Hon. Wayne Panton announced Thursday.

These include the lifting of post-arrival test requirements for vaccinated travelers.    Meanwhile, the quarantine period for partially vaccinated, the non-securely verifiable vaccinated, and unvaccinated persons has dropped to seven days.

The pre-flight testing requirement has also been lifted for vaccinated persons traveling between Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman. In addition, officials noted that the arrival of 2,000 UK donated vaccines on the British Airways flight on Thursday means that vaccinations for children 5-11 can start soon.

At a COVID-19 community update press conference,  Premier Wayne Panton highlighted the Cabinet-approved changes which are expected to support the Cayman Islands economy and allow people “to safely live with COVID-19 as we continue to take a balanced, pragmatic approach.”

With respect to inter-island travel, only unvaccinated travelers need to have a negative LFT/PCR test before traveling between Grand Cayman and the Sister Islands. The restriction on vaccinated travelers has been lifted.

Social distancing requirements remain in place.

The premier also announced the expansion of the gathering limit to 500 persons for indoor activities and no more than 1,000 persons for outdoor activities. Exceptions will be considered only if specific criteria are met, as determined by the Medical Officer of Health.

The new gathering limits for indoor and outdoor venues apply to sporting venues.

Outdoor sporting activities can now have up to 1,000 participants and spectators in total (in line with the new outdoor social gathering limit). No mask-wearing is required for spectators.

The gathering capacity for boats has been increased to 500 persons per boat, subject to each vessel's own rated carrying capacity.

Testing restrictions on gyms have been lifted.

Public Health Policy- as guided by the Medical Officer of Health will also change as follows:

Reduce requirements for a traveler's vaccinated household occupants to LFT daily for seven days (down from the current 10 days) and for unvaccinated household occupants to quarantine for seven days (down from the current 10 days).

Additionally, the following new quarantine exit testing options are available for travelers: day 7 PCR Or two consecutive negative certified LFTs on Days 6 and 7.