The Cayman Islands is beefing up screening measures at its Owen Roberts International Airport, as the number of people infected with the coronavirus around the world continues to grow.

Public health officials in the island made the announcement on Thursday (Jan 30) noting that, travellers coming to the Caribbean from the affected region can expect to undergo entrance screening.

According to the officials in the Cayman Islands, surveillance has already been enhanced at all its borders.

Health officials assured the public that they were capable of managing any imported cases of the novel coronavirus and would continue to activate national contingency plans as needed.

In addition, the island’s Health Services Authority also used the opportunity to remind Caymanians and other residents on island to be “in the know” about 2019-nCoV (the 2019 novel coronavirus) and to practice general infection control measures such as:

frequent hand cleansing with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer

covering nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing

avoiding close contact with people suffering from acute respiratory infections

avoiding unprotected contact with farm or wild animals.