London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Sep 19, 2025

Four new coronavirus cases, exercise rules clarified

Four new coronavirus cases, exercise rules clarified

The Cayman Islands has four new cases of the coronavirus, public health officials said Sunday.

Three of those were close contacts of those who were previously identified as positive and the fourth was someone with personal travel history, according to Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Lee.

He said there were a further 42 negative tests, including 16 from students being kept in isolation at empty hotels.

Lee said health officials were monitoring all of the positive cases, and tracing and testing their family members.

All those who test positive are required to isolate for 14 days and must test negative before they are released from quarantine.

Cayman now has a total of 39 positives, including one on Cayman Brac which reported yesterday.

Lee said it was a criminal offence for anyone who tests positive, not too isolate.

“If you have been asked to quarantine, it is not a request, it is a requirement,” he said, “and if you breach that, you can be subject to charges.”

He accepted it was possible that several more people in Cayman had contracted COVID-19 and had not been tested because their symptoms were mild.

He said this was certainly true in China and Europe, but added, “We feel, in Cayman, we have a fairly good handle on it as we brought in strong measures early on.”


Premier concerned

Premier Alden McLaughlin said it was concerning that the number of cases continued to grow each day.

He said, “The only certain way not to get the virus is to stay home.”

Meanwhile, the Health Services Authority confirmed that Faith Hospital is open and the positive COVID-19 individual in Cayman Brac is not an inpatient within the facility.

The patient was seen in the dedicated flu clinic at the Aston Rutty Centre, which is equipped to treat persons with flu-like symptoms away from the general patient population.

Police Commissioner Derek Byrne clarified at the briefing that swimming is allowed as part of the exercise exemption during soft curfew hours. All other water activities, including snorkeling, are not allowed.

Fishing from the shore or a dock will be allowed during the 90-minute exercise allocation, the premier added later.

Byrne also clarified that exercise was only allowed between 6am and 6pm, despite the hard curfew not coming into effect until 7pm.


Governor echoes queen’s sentiments

Governor Martyn Roper echoed the message of Queen Elizabeth II, who made a speech to all her subjects Sunday, saying the world was suffering through a “once-in-a-century crisis”, and urging everyone to make the necessary sacrifices to get through.

He said, “She spoke about the value of discipline and quiet good-humoured resolve, and thanked those that are staying at home, who may be separated from loved ones and, very poignantly, she said we will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again.

“So, very much a message of hope that better days will return, but we need to remain united and resolute to overcome it.”

The governor also sent his best wishes to UK prime minister Boris Johnson, who was admitted to hospital this weekend suffering the effects of coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the governor said he had been the victim of a “fake news attack”, which stated that his wife was coming back on the British Airways flight.

The post had suggested that the main reason for the flight was to allow the governor to get his wife home. Roper said his wife was remaining in the UK to look after her elderly parents and highlighted that the plane was bringing in much-needed medical goods, including 1,700 COVID test kits.

It will also allow Bermudians and Caymanians to return to their islands, as well as evacuating residents in those territories who need to get back to the UK.


Curfew continues

The Cayman Islands is operating under a fluctuating soft and hard curfew to contain the spread of the virus. The hard curfew, now in place from 7pm to 5am and all day Sunday, limits movement to essential workers only.

The soft curfew restricts movement during the daylight hours while allowing people limited freedom to visit the supermarket or pharmacy or to exercise.

As of next week, further limits will be imposed. Anyone with the surname beginning A-K will only be allowed to go to the supermarket, bank or gas station on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

The L-Z group will be able to do the same on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Exceptions are made for 90 minutes of exercise, which is still allowed every day except Sunday, as well as for trips to the pharmacy or medical facility.

From tomorrow (Monday), police will have the power to issue on-the-spot tickets for breaches of the soft curfew. Penalties range from $250 for failing to maintain six-feet social distance in a public space, to $500 for supermarket shopping outside of people’s allotted day, and up to $750 for opening a business without exemption.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Massive Strikes in France Pressure Macron and New PM on Austerity Proposals
Trump Seeks Supreme Court Permission to Remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook
Hillary Clinton’s Reckless Rhetoric Fuels Division After Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
NASDAQ Rises to Record as Intel Soars More Than 20%, Nvidia Gains 3%
Nvidia’s $5 Billion Bet on Intel Reshapes AI Hardware Landscape
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Trump’s Quip on Biden and Google Lawsuit Revives Debate Over Antitrust Legacy
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
×