NEW QUARANTINE-IN-RESIDENCE SYSTEM LAUNCHED

NEW ARRIVALS QUARANTINE-IN-RESIDENCE SYSTEM LAUNCHED

A new Quarantine-In-Residence programme has been launched coinciding with the trial run of arrival screening protocols on Thursday with the arrival of a British Airways flight from London

The scheme is underpinned by a set of new regulations which will form the basis for the formal phased reopening the borders from October 1st.

They outline how the Quarantine-In-Residence programme works including penalties for breaching the regulations.

Passengers who arrived the BA flight were taken through an elaborate COVID-screening procedure especially for those persons who had agreed to participate in the Quarantine-In-Residence scheme rather than staying in a government-managed facility for the 14-day isolation.

Called the Control of Covid-19 (No.2) Regulations 2020, “the regulations facilitate the potential for travellers to quarantine at home, under the direction of the Medical Officer of Health (MOH).”

It makes it an offence for persons quarantined at home to permit visits by anyone, except for staff of the Ministry of Health and persons with written permission from the ministry.

While food, grocery and medication delivery services are permitted, delivery persons are not allowed to enter the premises or have contact with the residents.

In multi-dwelling premises, such as condominiums or apartment buildings, the restrictions do not apply beyond the residence in which persons are quarantined.

Persons isolating at home will be monitored by a ‘geo-fencing’ tracking device worn on a wristband which tracks their movements to ensure that they stay within a defined area.

An alert will be sent to the monitoring team if anyone wearing the device goes beyond the boundaries of their quarantine location, tampers with or damages the device, or if it stops sending a signal to the monitoring team.

There are penalties of CI$ 1,000 and six months imprisonment for breach of the regulations.

A bill to increase penalties is set to be considered at the upcoming meeting of the Legislative Assembly in October.

The Quarantine-In-Residence programme started on Thursday evening with the arrival of the British Airways flight from which 29 passengers from 12 households were selected to take part in its launch.

All participating travellers were transported home to an empty isolation accommodation without having any other household members on-island isolating with them.

A government statement says “a multi-agency public sector team has been working for several weeks to develop a safe and effective quarantine process that is reinforced by monitoring technology, and other safeguards such as regular check-ins.”

Officials say their objective has been to create a multi-layered process that offers as much protection as is possible to the wider Cayman Islands community.