Cayman Islands world’s worst COVID ‘hotspot’ this week, New York Times data reveals
Gavin Riley / Our Today
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The Cayman Islands is currently experiencing the worst spike in coronavirus (COVID-19) infections this week, according to data presented by respected US publication, the New York Times.
The Times, in the Tuesday (November 9) edition of its interactive feature tracking the spread of COVID-19 globally, found that the rate of infection had risen 455 per cent when compared to the last 14 days.
Marked against all countries and territories, the Cayman Islands was averaging 147 new cases daily, with the extent of infection calculated at 226 cases per 100,000 residents.
Barbados, with 320 new daily cases on average and 112 COVID-19 infections per 100,000 people this past week; and Anguilla, which averages 14 new daily cases and 92 cases per 100,000 residents over the last seven days, also made the New York Times‘ worst 10 list.
In reaching its assessment, the Times said that it calculated its ranking based on places with the most cases per 100,000 residents in the last seven days.
“Charts show change in daily averages and are each on their own scale,” the Times elaborated further.
The Cayman Islands Government, in its most recent COVID-19 statistics update on November 6, confirmed 194 new cases, as the territory is swept up in an epidemic indicative of community spread.
The territory, with 2,676 cumulative cases, is managing 1,600 active infections—a 981 per cent increase over active cases in the Cayman Islands just over a month ago.
Things were much different on October 10, when the tri-island, UK-governed territory was treating 148 active cases.
It is particularly worrying since the Cayman Islands has one of the highest vaccination rates of any country/territory in the Caribbean, with some 83 per cent of the eligible population is deemed ‘fully vaccinated’.
Jamaica, while not ranking as high as its Caribbean counterparts this time around, made international headlines in February when the Times reported the island was under the second-worst spike in the world.
See list of 20 countries experiencing increased COVID-19 cases, according to the New York Times:
| Country | Rate of increase in COVID-19 cases (over last 14 days) | Daily average of cases (infections per capita) | Total cases to date |
| 1. Cayman Islands | 455% | 147 (226 per 100,000) | 2,767 |
| 2. Slovenia | 66% | 2,879 (138) | 360,614 |
| 3. Georgia | 15% | 4,808 (129) | 372,417 |
| 4. Estonia | 5% | 1,500 (113) | 206,972 |
| 5. Barbados | -7% | 320 (112) | 20,265 |
| 6. Croatia | 75% | 4,424 (109) | 507,535 |
| 7. Montenegro | 33% | 615 (99) | 148,997 |
| 8. Slovakia | 85% | 5,146 (94) | 526,608 |
| 9. Latvia | 86% | 1,762 (92) | 233,698 |
| 10. Anguilla | FLAT | 14 (92) | 1,039 |
| 11. Lithuania | -10% | 2,566 (92) | 470,855 |
| 12. Austria | 138% | 8,080 (91) | 899,777 |
| 13. Serbia | -21% | 5,533 (80) | 1,187,373 |
| 14. Gibraltar | 45% | 24 (72) | 6,168 |
| 15. Czech Republic | 148% | 7,643 (72) | 1,828,440 |
| 16. Ireland | 60% | 3,443 (70) | 472,547 |
| 17. Belgium | 37% | 7,688 (67) | 1,438,830 |
| 18. Greece | 92% | 6,378 (60) | 792,239 |
| 19. The Netherlands | 98% | 10,469 (59) | 2,212,814 |
| 20. Armenia | -11% | 1,692 (57) | 322,364 |
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