We need a vision and a plan.
It’s 71 degrees outside, which means it is colder on the deck than inside our house. I love Christmas-time in the Caribbean. The chill in the air is uplifting. A laughs at me when I say it is cold, “You have forgotten what cold is.” she says, ..and she’s probably right.
D is reading on the lounger, wrapped in a hooded robe, and thick woollen blanket. He completes his 600-day streak of Duolingo, which makes my 40 consecutive days on the same language app appear lacking.
I watch a video, posted by The Cayman Compass, on an interview with Marc Langevin, the newly appointed president of Cayman Islands Tourism Association. (CITA) He discusses that Cayman’s government currently lacks and desperately needs clear vision on how to open up to tourism. He suggests that we should start planning now, so that when it is safer, we have targets and layered protocols in place. He comes across as a thoughtful leader, one who embraces evolution, and one whom the unprofitable tourism sector urgently needs as a voice right now. The interviewer, Reshma Ragoonath, makes less of an impression, as she texts on her phone mid-interview. Meanwhile Langevin talks about local businesses in the industry desperately trying to survive, to save jobs for the thousands employed in the sector. Langevin shares good ideas of how Cayman can better plan to open up, by layering on the protocols, to include pre-travel testing, Day 8 testing, plus adoption of a tracing app. He recommends we start this now, while we are in a strong position. He explains that it is dangerous to consider the vaccine as a “silver bullet” to solve all the problems. Cayman’s biggest market of tourists are aged 30 to 40 with families, who will likely not have access to a vaccine for some time. Plus there are children and pregnant women to consider, who are advised not to get vaccinated. When asked if the governement’s recent initiative of the Global Citizen Program has helped the tourism sector, I thought his reply “It has brought in 26 versus 500,000 (tourists). Make the math”, was a diplomatic response.
After yoga, and making a stack of pancakes, I plan to tackle another job that’s been on my list for approximately 5 years: to relocate a palm that has outgrown its pot. It’s a two -person job, so D helps. We tie up the fronds, lay the enormous pot on its side, tug the reluctant plant out its restrictive receptacle, haul it across the garden, dig a hole, and plant the tree into a spot in the ground, where it will flourish into a majestic tree over years to come. This takes all day. When you are in quarantine like us, and you find a task that takes you all day, you’re grateful.
In parliament today, Premier Aldin McLaughlin delivers an update on the Covid-19 vaccine. The plan for Cayman’s mass voluntary vaccination program starts early January, with preparations in place to vaccinate 3000 people per week. Stage 1 will cover healthcare workers, institutionalised elderly, workers in ports, workers over 60, patients with conditions that make them vulnerable, and workers essential for government services. Stage 2 will cover teachers, school staff, and those living in homes with the Stage 1 group. Only after Stage 2 is completed, and the most vulnerable are vaccinated, will the borders be reopened. The Premier estimates this could be around March. He states that all travelers will be required to show that they have received and completed an approved vaccine course against the virus, plus receive a negative PCR test upon arrival. Travelers who fulfil these two criteria are exempt from quarantine if living in households of vaccinated people, but will be subject to repeat tests on Day 5, 10 and 15.
What isn’t addressed is what options unvaccinated travelers, such as children, and their families will have. There is no mention of how this will work in hotels, where younger workers may not have yet had access to the vaccine. Interestingly, workers in the tourism sector do not appear to get any priority at all.
Also not mentioned, is the plan for residents returning to Cayman. Must they also be vaccinated to come home, or will residents have different protocols? What happens with school and university students who travel for education? We only have to look at Bermuda, with its one rule for residents, and one for tourists, to see that the recent outbreak of the virus there was caused by the less restricted returning residents. Our Premier makes no announcement of a plan to reopen to tourism, just a suggestion that the vaccine will be the solution. Exactly the mindset that Langevin said was a dangerous one.
The Premier takes the opportunity to tell people to ‘open their minds’ to the benefits that a vaccine will bring, yet doesn’t have a broad enough view to see that by insisting all tourists are vaccinated will not result in an instant revival of our tourism sector. He closes by saying “the arrival of the vaccine seems like a Christmas gift.”
On the subject of Christmas gifts, this evening we found a wrapped gift and Christmas card left on our doorstep by kindly neighbours. Italian panettone is one of my favourite treats, and tastes even better on a cold evening. I have a vision of working my way through this cake for the rest of quarantine, and plan to start as soon as possible.
