This is excellent news as we continue to reopen our economy and society. Our plan has always been to wait at least 2 weeks between reopening phases to see what the effects of that reopening have on our community.

It's now been two weeks since we ended all curfews, saw more people returning back into the workforce, increased the number of people who can gather to 25, opened back our churches, cinemas, theatres and beauty salons. While for the time being we remain at Level 2 minimal suppression I'm very comfortable moving to the next reopening changes that will come into effect on Sunday 5th July. These are:

Educational institutions and facilities, including Summer Camps and vacation bible schools may commence full operation including social and sporting activities. (However it should be noted that sporting activities do not include contact sports which are planned to start on 19 July)

In Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac restaurants and bars will be able to offer both indoor and outdoor services.

- Each table can now be six feet apart;
- Persons at a table can now be seated three feet apart i.e. persons who are members of the same household;
- Servers and front of house staff must wear masks or cloth face coverings while serving customers.
- Persons will be able to exercise in a strata gym and public gym from Sunday.

Persons wishing to travel from Grand Cayman to the Sister Islands prior to travelling must:

- Notify the Medical Officer of Health of the proposed travel and
- Be tested for the virus.

Again persons are reminded that they will only be permitted to travel to the Sister Islands after receiving a test result which has been declared to be negative by the Medical Officer of Health.

Travel to the UK

Some good news for our students, parents and others who will be travelling over the summer direct from Cayman to England, the UK Government has announced today that there will be no need to quarantine once you land. I'm very grateful to the Governor and others who have lobbied so hard on behalf of the Overseas Territories. All 14 British Overseas Territories have been exempted from quarantine. I'd to thank Andre Ebanks, our representative in the Cayman Islands Government Office in London for the work he and his colleagues have done to lobby the UK Government for this exemption.

72nd Anniversary of the NHS

The Governor will shortly speak to the 72nd anniversary of the UK's National Health Service and the stellar work they are doing to save lives. I do not wish to steal his thunder but I do wish to recognize the Caymanians who I understand work in the NHS.

A 2017 NHS study reported that amongst the many nationalities working in the NHS were 40 Caymanians. If you are a Caymanian working in the NHS or know of Caymanians working in the NHS or in healthcare overseas, please encourage them to get in touch with us by emailing info.cigo@gov.ky or via their website www.caymanconnection.org so we can personally thank them for their hard work and dedication.

TravelTime app

I'd just like to remind everyone that TravelTime went live on Wednesday, 1 July. Anyone wishing to travel to, from and within the Cayman Islands, whether by air or sea, is asked to reconfirm their intentions and desire to travel at www.exploregov.ky/traveltime.

The TravelTime team is actively working on repatriation flights. Flights currently scheduled include 3 flights to Kingston, 4, 9 and 11 July, two flights to Miami on the 8 and 10 July and a flight to London on the 31 July. I would add that there were 2 flights that left for Miami today as well as a flight through London for persons returning to India.

Micro and Small Business Grant Programme

The Cayman Islands Centre for Business Development, under the Ministry of Commerce, Planning and Infrastructure, began accepting applications for grants to the micro and small business sector in April of this year.

To date, nine hundred and fifty (950) applications have been received. One million and seventy six dollars ($1,076,000.00) have been paid to applicants with a further four hundred and fourteen thousand dollars (414,000) approved for payment.

Of the 950 applications received, 84% have been processed, with 178 business owners receiving full payment of $3,000.00.

Based on the number of approved applications, the total funds so far committed by the Government to the programme is $2.6 million.

With a 97% application approval rate, the micro and small grant programme has sought to ensure that all businesses that meet the criteria are given access to these funds.

The Centre is now moving to introduce a digital application form which will be rolled out later this month.

Low Interest Loan Programme

There have been 65 applications to the low interest loan programme with a total value of two million, two hundred and twenty-one thousand dollars ($2,221,000.00).

Five have so far been approved, with another five currently being assessed for approval. The total value of loans at the approval stage is four hundred and fifteen thousand dollars ($415,000.00)

For the benefit of those applicants who are unable to adequately present their financials to the bank, the government has also implemented a technical assistance programme, where qualified accountants have been employed to help prepare these documents at no cost to the small business owners.

This programme has so far worked with 32 loan applicants, helping them to prepare their financial statements and business plans.

The Centre has conducted five training webinars over the period with 350 persons in attendance.

Business Advisors at the Centre will now move to introduce small group trainings based on an assessed need, with primary focus on helping small businesses to pivot in the current business environment.