As of this Sunday, Cayman will be locked down. No cruise ships for 60 days. The airport will be closed to international travel (flights to the Sister Islands will occur but only for critical reasons). Nobody can get into the country, and with the exception of extenuating circumstances, nobody leaves, for 3 weeks (medical evacuations will still occur if needed). I gotta say, it’s a little eerie. The rationale behind the closure makes sense (limit the potential exposure and spread of the coronavirus), but a feeling of claustrophobia is enveloping me. Besides being trapped on a slice of land barely visible on most world maps, we’re also not really able to leave the house, even if we wanted to. Hotels are closing. Bars and restaurants are closing. Dive shops are closing. Our neighbors are working from home. My family is basically self-isolating to prevent contracting COVID-19. Oh! And I still have to go to work. It’s not like a 3 week vacation in paradise.
Actions by the government here for the most part have been commendable. They’ve been holding daily press briefings and seem to be transparent. Social media has been a great way to stay up-to-date through our hazard management team. Actions by the government to support the people during this crisis include quickly increasing the pension amount received by it’s retirees and implementing a pay raise for public hospital employees. In the private sector, insurance companies have agreed to pay for treatment related to COVID-19, even though they’re exempt from covering diseases classified as a global pandemic. Private hotels are closing but pledged to continue paying their staff for the foreseeable future. Other companies are working to repatriate foreign staff back to their home country. The public healthcare system is working with private hospitals and doctors offices to maximize resources. My sense is, here government and private businesses are working together for the common goal of saving lives and the economy. There does seem to be a feeling of, “we’re all in this together.”
It isn’t perfect, there are reports of landlords threatening to evict tenants who fail to pay rent, even if they’ve lost their income due to coronavirus. Some companies are not being as responsive, but that could change as the pandemic worsens, especially if we’re hit hard on the island.
I guess what’s scary is being locked on an island with this virus potentially lurking around. It’s like that story where the babysitter gets that creepy phone call, and discovers it originated from inside the house, after she’s already locked all the doors. We’ve had a single COVID-19 case so far, resulting in the patient dying. Though there have been no other reports of positive coronavirus on island, tests are pending and I find it hard to believe, given how transmissible this beast is, that nobody was infected from that single case. Maybe we got lucky, maybe we dodged this bullet; but I’m waiting for the phone to ring and the operator telling me the call is coming from inside the house.
