• Seventy
  four negative and two positive test results reported.
  
• 24-hour
  hard curfew for Sundays lifted from Cayman Brac immediately and
  changes to soft curfew are gazetted tonight.
  
  
• Fishing
  and boating, with a maximum of two persons in one boat, are allowed
  outside of the 8pm-5am curfew period on Cayman Brac. Restrictions by
  last name are rescinded.
  
• Police
  planning stringent enforcement of regulations this weekend.
  
• CMO
  outlines phased testing.
  

Grand
Cayman (GIS) –
Easing of restrictions on Cayman Brac, including lifting of 24-hour
lockdown on Sundays and allowing both fishing and boating from this
evening, Thursday, 7 May 2020 were some of the highlights shared by
Cayman Islands’ leaders at today’s press conference.

Also,
Government is on track to take steps to remove Cayman from the EU’s
black list of financial centres.

Furthermore,
Cayman Islands’ airports and seaports for cruise ships will remain
shut until 1 September 2020 for visitors and returning residents,
according to decisions taken by Cabinet today. Exceptions will
continue to be made for essential services, health emergencies and to
accommodate emergency evacuations organised by the Governor’s
Office.

Prayer
was led by Bishop Dr. Desmond Whittaker.

Chief
Medical Officer Dr John Lee reported:

• 74
  negative results were reported today; two positive, one of whom has
  travel history, and the other a contact of a previous case. Of the
  total of 80 positives, number of symptomatic persons is 9,
  asymptomatic persons is 33, and recovered 35. The number of
  hospitalised remains the same at 2.
  
• Testing
  of most frontline healthcare workers has been done in phase one and
  is continuing simultaneously with phase two which includes:
  supermarkets, RCIPS, Fire, people on Little Cayman and Cayman Brac.
  
  
• At
  stage 3 of testing, repeat sampling of healthcare workers will
  continue at periodic intervals, as they are essential workers and
  have to remain free of COVID-19. Healthcare workers have currently
  to fill questionnaires daily as well whereby they get daily health
  screening.
  

He
reminded all to follow social distancing and other COVID-19
prevention measures, such as handwashing, and use of face coverings.
Some of these are recommendations from the CMO based on international
best practice and some are law.

Commissioner
of Police, Mr. Derek Byrne
reported:

• Small
  number of crimes has occurred.
  
  
• Gang
  tensions in West Bay police district resulted in a reported
  shooting. No persons were injured. A serious assault this morning
  involving a machete resulted in a serious hand injury and the
  hospitalisation and detention of one person. Investigations are
  progressing well in both cases, with one detained and arrested to
  date.
  
• Hard
  curfew continues to operate well. Revoked in Little Cayman this week
  and 24-hour hard curfew on Sundays lifted in Cayman Brac.
  
  
• Concerned
  about operation of soft curfew generally, while essential services
  such as supermarkets, banks, pharmacies, money transfer are working
  well.
  
• There
  have been 481 individual warnings for prosecution up to 6 am this
  morning; of these, 298 were for hard curfew, 184 for soft curfew and
  an additional 110 tickets have been issued for soft curfew. For
  full statistics, see sidebar below.
  
• More
  stringent enforcement of regulations is coming on Grand Cayman this
  weekend. The number of vehicles on Grand Cayman’s roads is now a
  matter of concern, as well as speeding, which has no exemptions and
  police will be monitoring this stringently.
  
• Soft
  curfew for Cayman Brac is now changed from, 5am to 8pm, all week.
  
• Beach
  curfew on Grand Cayman remains strictly in effect.
  
  

Premier
Hon. Alden McLaughlin
said:

• It
  is worrying that we’ve put some 6,000 persons back in to the work
  force and it has resulted in a notable increase in traffic. Speeding
  is really a major problem. With significant numbers of people out
  exercising, he appealed to motorists to be extra careful not to
  cause them alarm or injury.
  
  
• He
  appealed to cyclists to drive on the left
  side
  of the road which means along the flow of traffic. Going against
  traffic on the right side of the road is a practice that endangers
  cyclists themselves from people coming out of their driveways into
  regular traffic.
  
• Cabinet
  has today passed updated regulations governing soft curfew on Cayman
  Brac.
  
• Cayman
  Brac is lowered to COVID-19 suppression level 3, Little Cayman close
  to level 2, while Grand Cayman remains on level 4.
  
• On
  Cayman
  Brac,
  as of this weekend, 24-hour Sunday lockdown is lifted and hard
  curfew is modified there 8pm-5am, 7 days a week. Beach curfew is
  lifted this evening, enabling both fishing by boat and line fishing
  from the ironshore. Limit of two people per fishing vessel.
  
• However,
  people in public places are required to maintain social distancing
  protocols. Also restrictions to visits to residential care
  facilities remain in place.
  
• Dining
  in at restaurants is limited to outdoor areas only, meaning no
  indoor dining in allowed. At allowed social gatherings, 25 people
  may gather.
  
• Leisure,
  recreational, faith, service club, community and civic organisations
  may now hold meetings but must maintain social distancing measures.
  
• Masks
  are required indoors in public places and maintaining distancing of
  6 feet is required.
  
• Inter-island
  travel continues to be controlled. Travel is only permitted after
  notification of Medical Officer of Health and Cayman Brac’s public
  health equivalent.
  
• Bars
  will remain closed until 50% of population test negative or expiry
  of new regulations, whichever is sooner. Testing will continue.
  
• Civil
  Service will continue to work remotely.
  
• Restrictions
  on visits to residential homecare facilities continue on Cayman
  Brac.
  
• Government
  continues to work even during the COVID-19 crisis to ensure that the
  Cayman Islands comes off the EU black list in October. The LA would
  have to meet later this month to pass a number of bills in this
  regard.
  
• The
  Finance Minister will attend a press conference to update on the
  financial situation in the Cayman Islands.
  
• Department
  of Vehicle and Drivers Licensing (DVDL) operations are continuing
  well; on average 275 vehicles are renewed a day. Also, National
  Roads Authority (NRA) staff are back on work on the roads.
  
• He
  clarified that tennis can be played by home owners on their private
  tennis courts with their own family members. Tennis on strata
  properties or public places is not allowed.
  
• Premier
  debunked as “completely false” a rumour that the Education
  Ministry is issuing free laptops to youth. He reiterated that
  trusted sources for information are the official CIGTV, Radio Cayman
  and www.gov.ky and government
  Facebook and Twitter posts.
  
• The
  next phase will likely allow car garages and part stores to reopen.
  
• For
  more announcements from the Premier, see sidebars below.
  

His
Excellency the Governor, Mr. Martyn Roper
said:

• Governor
  asked all to comply with curfew on behalf of all in the community.
  
• He
  welcomed the great news about Cayman Brac.
  
• He
  noted that however, the new normal requires social distancing and
  respiratory and basic hygiene.
  
• He
  was confident that the plan to ease restrictions on Grand Cayman
  remains on track.
  
• Until
  there is a vaccine or we are able to test people, international
  travel or arrivals are not possible. And vaccine remains a long way
  off – the world is being offered rapid tests but at the moment all
  unapproved and don’t offer a way forward. Knows that people are
  concerned with borders being closed for next three or four months.
  
• The
  Dominican Republic flight is confirmed for 17 May. There is no need
  to call as he will confirm booking details tomorrow.
  
• Another
  flight to Miami is confirmed but the flight date is to be confirmed.
  
• The
  flight to Canada is on 22 May and some seats are still available;
  details can be obtained on his social media sites. No further flight
  to Canada is envisaged currently.
  
• Governor
  commented that during air travel, social distancing would not be
  possible and the flights organised were emergency evacuations.
  

Health
Minister Hon. Dwayne Seymour said:

• People
  feeling the need to cope could contact the mental health helpline at
  1-800-534-MIND (6463).
  
• He
  said masks had been distributed to all MLAs for distribution in
  their respective districts and more were ordered. This was only one
  among several measures in the community for masks. There were also
  entities such as the Red Cross disseminating them.
  
• He
  thanked BritCay for donating $20,000 towards a vehicle for the HSA
  pharmacy to make home deliveries of medicines to the vulnerable and
  the elderly. For coordinating delivery, the numbers to call are
  244-2715 or 244-2716.
  
• He
  also thanked BritCay for making golf cart available for use within
  the HSA by the disabled.
  
• He
  asked people to show solidarity with the protocols put in place for
  the Islands’ benefit by wearing a mask or if not available even a
  bandana. For those wishing to make a mask at home, instructions were
  available on www.gov.ky/coronavirus
  and to search there for masks on the search bar.
  

Deputy
Premier, Hon. Moses Kirkconnell said:

• Cruise
  port and airport currently set to reopen on 1 September based on
  recently passed Cabinet paper. There is no guarantee that the ports
  will open to cruise ships in the third or fourth quarter.
  
• Government
  is putting together a medium to long term plan for tourism. A
  COVID-19 spawned package of incentives will be put together as well
  as educational programme to improve skillsets to ensure Caymanians
  can take advantage of new opportunities when they become available.
  
• With
  90% of tourism gone, a new way of doing business and not a quick fix
  was the way to go forward in relation to tourism. Striking the right
  balance is the key. “The industry is at the end of a free fall and
  we are starting to build it back.”
  
• Financial
  services and construction are vibrant and strong and that needs to
  continue. Tourism will have to recover in segments.
  
  
• Inter-island
  staycations and better business for local restaurants are one way to
  go. International arrivals cannot recover until the world around the
  Cayman Islands recovers. Government is brainstorming to decide when
  to open for inter-island tourism.
  

Education
Minister Hon. Juliana,O’Connor-Connolly said:

• Minister
  emphasised people on Cayman Brac were happy at the opening of boat
  fishing and line fishing.
  

Sidebar
1: Premier Explains New Cayman Brac COVID-19 Regulations

I
am pleased to announce that Cabinet has today passed the Prevention,
Control and Suppression of Covid-19 (Cayman Brac) Regulations, 2020.
These regulations will come into effect this evening 7th
May once published and expire on 31st
May 2020.

The
Suppression level in Cayman Brac is now be lowered to Level 3.
Little Cayman is quite close to Level 2 and Grand Cayman remains at
Level 4.

This
decision has been taken given that around 400 people or close to 32%
of Cayman Brac have been tested. To date only one person has tested
positive for COVID-19 in the Brac.

Changes
will be made to the hard curfew. As of this weekend, Cayman Brac will
no longer be under a 24 hard lockdown on Sundays. Instead there will
be a curfew from 8pm-5am 7 days per week.

Public
places will be required to maintain social distancing protocols of at
least 6 feet and only provide services where such distancing can be
maintained/achieved. Dining at the outdoor areas of restaurants is
now possible again.

Public
meetings will be increased to a maximum of 25 persons. Public
meetings include leisure, recreational or spiritual activities
including those organised by service clubs, faith-based
organisations, community organisations, civic organisations and
business organisations.This
means churches, service clubs and community organizations can now
hold meetings- but must maintain social distancing measures.

The
wearing of masks or face coverings will be required for those who are
indoors in a public place and unable to maintain a distance of 6 feet
from others.

Just
as with Little Cayman regulations, Inter-island travel to Cayman Brac
will also be controlled and only permitted after notification of the
Medical Officer of Health and the Director of the Sister Islands
Health Services Authority.

So
in practical terms you reside in Grand Cayman and wish to travel to
Cayman Brac, you will be required to be isolated for a period of 2
weeks at a location specified by the Medical Officer of Health. You
will then be tested for COVID-19 and must receive a negative test for
the virus. Upon receiving the negative result, you must travel
immediately and directly to the airport by a person assigned by the
Medical Officer of Health. These measures are designed to limit the
potential importation of new cases of COVID-19 to Cayman Brac.

We
have decided that bars will remain closed until 50% of the population
has tested negative for COVID-19 or the expiration of the new
regulations. It is our desire to see the testing continue and we
believe that at 50% of the population we will have a much clearer
indication of the situation in Cayman Brac.

Civil
Servants unless designated as essential workers will continue to work
remotely from home.

We
are maintaining restrictions on visitations to residential home care
facilities.

And
perhaps the most important news, fishing and boating is now allowed
again, however for the time being there is a limit of 2 persons per
boat.

Sidebar
2: Premier Announces Frontline Fridays

“We
are all aware of the tremendous efforts and hard work that has been
ongoing for several weeks to contain the virus from spreading in our
Islands.

I’m
pleased to say that hard work is paying dividends.

Aside
from the robust policies that have been put in place, a great deal of
our success is due to the dedication, professionalism, and commitment
of the many people who are working on our front lines.

These
include our healthcare workers, first responders, uniformed services
and public servants, as well as grocery store employees, essential
businesses, and many others, who are providing essential services or
information to help us stay safe and keep our Islands functioning
during this global health crisis.

It
is important that we take the time to recognise all of our frontline
and essential workers and let them know that their hard work and
sacrifices are certainly appreciated.

Starting
tomorrow and every Friday, Radio Cayman is dedicating a portion of
its Talk Today show to our front line workers.

I’d
like to invite the public to call in to Radio Cayman between 1:30pm
and 2pm tomorrow to say thank you to their family members and friends
for the contribution they are making on the frontlines, or even to
talk about the positive experiences
and interactions they have had with frontline workers.

The
number to call is 1 800 534 8255 or 949 8037.

I’m
sure your calls will give everyone on the front lines a tremendous
boost and will help to keep them motivated, so please do take
advantage of this opportunity if you can.”

Sidebar
3: Commissioner Cautions Against Speeding, Breaking Curfews

“I
am pleased to report that the crime situation remains quite stable, a
small number of crimes are occurring and there are some gang tensions
emerging in the West Bay district which manifested in a reported
shooting incident last night (no persons injured) and a serious
assault involving the use of a machete this morning, resulting in a
serious hand injury.

Investigations
into both incidents are progressing well. One arrest has been made
and it is expected that a second arrest will be made in the coming
days. A small number of burglaries have been reported during the
past week. This situation merely highlights that crime has not
gone away, but has significantly reduced over the past 6 weeks. That
said, crime will re-emerge as we move through the remainder of the
year. I re-state that the crime situation is quite stable and in
general terms everything is calm.

The
hard curfew for the most part continues to operate well on Grand
Cayman. You will be aware that the hard curfew on Little Cayman
was revoked earlier this week and later the Premier will announce an
easing of curfew restrictions on Cayman Brac commencing this
evening. Separately, I have a lot of concern around the
operations and the interpretation (by some persons) of the shelter in
place regulations (soft curfew) in Grand Cayman.

Supermarkets,
banks, gas stations, pharmacies and money transfer bureaus are all
operating well.  They are well controlled and well managed with
social distancing protocols being observed.

If
I could take a few moments to speak about mainly the soft curfew or
shelter in place regulations particularly on Grand Cayman:   

Up
to 6 am this morning there have been 481 individual Warnings for
Prosecutions issued. This is broken down to 298 breaches of the Hard
Curfew and 184 breaches of the Soft Curfew.

Additionally, between
15 and 23
 April,
there were 110 Tickets issued. (592 breaches). There are
additional tickets in the system not included in these figures.

In
the last 7 days, there have been 31 incidents involving breach of
curfew on Grand Cayman, resulting in warnings for prosecution being
issued to 60 individuals.  These were located on George Town
(17), West Bay (8), Bodden Town (2), East End (3), North Side
(1).This includes:

• 
  8
  incidents where people have broken hard curfew by swimming, fishing
  or snorkeling. The most serious incident was on the 4th
  of May when a group of 6 individuals were caught snorkeling in the
  West Bay district.
  
  
• 
  2
  incidents where persons broke curfew by operating a business without
  permit. There was an incident on the 5th
  of May on Shedden Road, George Town where officers found a man
  running a barbers shop with 3 customers sitting together inside.
  
  
• 
  2
  incidents where larges groups (7+ persons) have ignored social
  distancing. This includes an incident yesterday where officers
  attended the location and observed 9 males playing Dominoes at the
  rear of a licensed premises in GT, all were warned for intended
  prosecution.
  

Our
Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Lee has repeatedly highlighted the risks
of the COVID 19 virus. He has repeatedly set out the intent of the
regulations which is to suppress the virus and protect the population
of the Cayman Islands. Daily, global and national news reports set of
out the risks associated with the virus and it is difficult to see
how any person(s) could misinterpret the risks to the community here
in the Cayman Islands. 

With
the incremental easing of restrictions earlier this week some persons
are working hard to circumvent the intent of the regulations applying
a very loose interpretation, moving around in breach of the
regulations. This type of behaviour places the majority of the
population at greater risk and undermines the purpose and intent of
the regulations which is primarily to protect communities and save
lives.

The
challenge for community safety is best demonstrated in traffic
volumes around Grand Cayman, which is clear to be seen.  We are
not far off pre-covid traffic volumes.  Unfortunately, the
easing of restrictions appears to have been a light bulb moment for
some persons who have interpreted the easing as permission for them
to resume almost full movement and full activities across Grand
Cayman.

Our
success to date in dealing with COVID 19 has largely been due to
compromise and tolerance, which has taken us this far and delivered
excellent results and all of us here in this room believe that
the end line is in sight, if we can get it right. 

But
we are struggling to get a minority of persons to comply with the
regulations and this requires me as Commissioner of Police to direct
more stringent enforcement of the regulations to protect our
communities and save lives. The persons who breach the regulations
compromise the safety of persons who comply with the regulations and
this matter needs to be re-balanced.

The
Premier mentioned yesterday about groups of landscape workers
travelling in the back of an open bodied truck, not social distancing
and not carrying the required papers, he also mentioned that
exemptions issued to employers breaching the regulations would be
revoked. I have instructed my officers to ensure that all
breaches detected are reported to the competent authority with a view
to revoking exemptions for non-compliant employers and employees. In
the case of any detected breaches I have directed that each person in
the vehicle will be warned for prosecution and in the case of
employees travelling without the required exemption papers we will
also seek to prosecute to employer for failing to comply with the
conditions of the exemption issued. 

Speeding
on our roads continues to be a problem, this includes speeding by
drivers involved in food delivery, particularly at night time, there
is no exemption for speeding. I would like to take a moment to read
out an e-mail sent to me today by a member from the community
concerned at what is going on, on our roads. The intention of
the police in the enforcement of the regulations is to be fair and
balanced in our approach, but this is becoming increasingly more
difficult as persons seek to circumvent the regulations.

Reminder:

Soft
curfew or Shelter in Place Regulations on Grand Cayman
remain in operation between the hours of 5am
and 8pm
daily Monday to Saturday. New Shelter in Place Regulations for Cayman
Brac will be gazetted later this evening or tomorrow and the Premier
will speak to this in his address today.

Hard
Curfew or full lockdown, save
for exempted essential services personnel remains in operation on
GC and CB
between the hours of 8pm and 5am nightly Monday
to Sunday inclusive.

Exercise
periods not exceeding 90 minutes are permitted between the hours of
5.15am
and 7pm daily Monday to Saturday. No
exercise periods are permitted on Sunday
during
the period of curfew.  This relates to Grand Cayman only as
these restrictions have been removed in CB and LC.

This
coming Sunday 10 May 2020
will operate as a 24 hour curfew period with full hard lock down. No
persons other than exempted essential services personnel will be
permitted to leave their homes on Sunday, for any reason. Exercise
periods in public places are not permitted on Sunday. This
relates to Grand Cayman Only. On Cayman Brac a nighttime curfew will
be in place between the hours of 8pm and 5am this Sunday.

A
full 24 hour hard curfew as it relates to beach access to public
beaches on Grand Cayman remains in place through to Friday 15 May
2020 at
5am - this means no
access to public beaches on GC at any time until Friday 15 May 2020
at 5am. This prohibits any person(s) from entering on, walking,
swimming, snorkeling, fishing or engaging in any type of marine
activity on any public beach on Grand Cayman. This restriction is
removed from Cayman Brac effective this evening.”

I
remind all persons that a breach of a hard curfew order is a criminal
offence carrying a penalty of $3,000 KYD and imprisonment for one
year, or both.

I
have directed heightened enforcement over the coming week end and I
ask for you for your continued co-operation as we work together to
protect our communities and save lives.

For the official Cayman
Islands Government web portal, www.gov.ky:

Web
title: Thursday,
7 May Update

Web
blurb: Restrictions
on Cayman Brac are relaxed, fishing allowed, Sunday 24-hour hard
curfew removed.