OVER 250 COVID-19 CASES SINCE MARCH

Cayman has now surpassed 250 confirmed COVID-19 cases since the first sign of the disease here in March.

Chief Medical Officer, Dr John Lee, reported Tuesday that of 263 COVID-19 tests been carried out from the last report on Friday, November 6th, three were positive.

That takes the total confirmed to 253.

The individuals are asymptomatic travellers who returned a positive test result following routine screening. They will remain in isolation until considered recovered.

In all, 236 persons have recovered from the disease.

There are 823 persons in isolation, either at a government facility or in their homes as required by the Medical Officer of Health.

Testing for the virus continues with 48,577 screenings done to date.

Globally, many countries are recording an upsurge in cases and deaths in what is being called the second wave of the pandemic.

There’s only been one death in Cayman linked to COVID-19.

VACCINE HOPE

But while concerns mount and countries impose new restrictions to contain the second wave of the pandemic, there has been a ray of hope in research to develop a vaccine.

Medical experts and world leaders have been applauding the news on Monday that early tests of one vaccine are showing encouraging results.

The pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech are reporting that a vaccine they are developing could prevent more than 90% of people from getting COVID-19, according to their preliminary analysis.

Laboratory testing is continuing and Pfizer and BioNTech say they expect to have enough safety data by the later this month to seek regulatory approval for mass manufacture of their vaccine.

Other vaccines are also in development in labs around the world.