Our borders are now fully open and we are getting used to what island life in 2022 will look like. Its time to buckle up and brace ourselves for the new normal!
Last month we finally moved to stage 5 of the reopening process. Moving to phase 5 means children 11 years and younger will take the vaccinated status of the adult they are traveling with. Thereby doing away with the mandatory quarantine that was in place. Its a little late for my friend who waned to visit for Christmas with her unvaccinated daughter, but perhaps this year. One thing about this new normal is that things are constantly changing. It is sometimes difficult to keep up.
Frequent Testing Is The New Normal
Frequent testing is the new normal. It is part of our pledge to live with covid. We test frequently, so we know our status early and can take the necessary precautions early. We recently topped the New York Times Covid-19 Rankings for the Caribbean. It gave me quite the pause after we had one of the longest border closures only to get to this. However, the reason for this is that our test rates are high. If you don’t test you won’t know. And this is a good thing as persons are quickly aware of their status and can take mitigating action. Well they are thrown in quarantine jail but you get the picture.
To keep the workplace safe most companies require their employees to test weekly and so do the schools. If you travel to Cayman and is exempt from quarantine, you are required to test on days 2, 5 and 10 of your stay.
Inter Island Travel
From March 2020 to October 2021 we enjoyed the freedom to travel to our sister islands without worry. I made the trek twice and you can read about my escapades here and here. Now that the borders are open inter island travel requires a negative same day test to travel.
Limitations in Social Gatherings
Another casualty of the border reopening and the increased cases is that numbers for social gatherings have been capped. The thing about life is that you adjust. Personally I am enjoying more deliberately curated events, although I long to go to good fete.
It is an opportunity to get creative with our gatherings. I feel, less frequent but more elevated experiences will also be the new normal. Of course pre- testing before gathering will be here for awhile as well but its a small price to pay for the comfort of hanging out freely.
Final Thoughts On The New Normal
How is it going in your neck of the woods? Are you still team work from home? And how are you navigating this new normal?
There has been a lot of focus on mental health and self care. The extended pandemic has required of us to dig deep for inner strength. But it is an opportunity to bond more with your tribe. I hope you are making the most of this opportunity. I have been reading more and just giving myself grace.
I’ve noticed an increase in focus on mental health! My company gave us a few extra days off this year. It’s wonderful to see that mental health and self-care are being talked about more now because these things are non-negotiables in this modern world. The best thing I’ve done was to prioritize a small amount of time each day to do one thing for myself in 2022! 🙂 Great post!
Hi Skye,
That’s a great initiative by your company. But most importantly is the time we carve out for our well-being. Good on you for that! And thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.
Charmaine
I am in the UK and this was my reality around this time, last year. I am glad you are taking the time to get used to the new normal. It’s amazing how quickly we can adjust. The curated events and gatherings was a big positive surprise for me too! Thanks for sharing.
Hello Amanda,
We have been slow to the draw with our extended border closure. The up side to that was the freedom f movement for a long time. But, you are right, once we accept, it becomes easier to adjust. Thanks for reading and sharing 🙂