Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen of the media, and to the Bermudian public that are watching at home, or listening to the radio.
I trust that all Bermudians had a restful and blessed Easter weekend.
Today, I'm joined for this press conference by the Minister of Health, Kim Wilson, the Minister of Labour Community Affairs and Sports, Minister Lovitta Foggo, and the Minister of National Security, Minister Wayne Caines. We are also joined by the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Cheryl Peek-Ball, who will be able to answer any medical questions which may come later today.
The first Minister to speak will be Minister Wilson, the Minister of Health, with an update on the latest with COVID-19. Minister.
Thank you. Minister.
On behalf of the government and the people of Bermuda, and also my family, I extend my sincere condolences to the family of the person who passed away today.
Sadly, at these press conferences we refer to our fellow Bermudians as numbers or statistics which are to be reported. But these persons are far more than numbers and statistics. They are someone's father, they are someone's mother, they're someone's friend, and they’re someone's family. Each of these individuals have been a part of the rich fabric of what makes us a country.
We mourn with you, we grieve with you, and we will continue to redouble our efforts to ensure that we can limit the amount of future loss of life. The losses that Bermuda has experienced over the last few weeks underscores the importance of social distancing. As a country, we must stay home and move around as little as possible.
We must only leave our homes to visit the grocery store, pharmacy, or gas station for necessities, and not for a social outing. Staying in our homes may seem like a simple measure, but scientifically it is the most effective way to reduce the spread of a highly contagious disease. This Easter weekend the vast majority of Bermudians adhered to shelter in place guidelines, leaving their homes only for those essential items. However, the Bermuda Police Service continues to run into persons who are not taking these restrictions seriously, and there are continued reports of persons who are not doing what they should do.
The overall aim of what we are doing, as a government in this shelter in place, is to save lives by limiting the transmission to ensure that we do not overwhelm our hospital, and the only way that we can do that is by people following the instructions and remaining home. I also want to remind everyone, giving thanks to the grocery stores, who have signed on and the other establishments that are requiring persons to have their face covered as they move inside.
It is important that if you do go outside, if you are an essential worker if you are somewhere, please make sure that you wear a face covering. It is particularly important at this time, where there are persons who are asymptomatic transmitters of this virus. I did receive a question where someone asked, what does asymptomatic mean.
This means that you don't have a fever, don't have a cough, don't have a sore throat, aren't experiencing any symptoms whatsoever, and are feeling perfectly fine and healthy. However, you may be an unknowing carrier of the coronavirus. And if you are, you could, by an interaction with someone by some reason you're not sick so you ended up touching your mouth or something did not wash your hands, do not practice good hand hygiene and you managed to pass that on to someone else unknowingly.
Some of the statistics which we've seen, has said that there are persons who are asymptomatic who are carrying this virus. That is why it is important for all of us to cover our faces when we go out in the public. This unfortunately is the norm in many countries around the world, and will soon become our new normal, as we work to make sure that we continue to combat this virus.
As a reminder, we should try to reserve surgical mask, or and N95 for healthcare workers, but wear any covering that you can. If you want to learn how to make the covering yourself, you can go on our website coronavirus.gov.bm for instructions on how to make your own face cover.
If you subscribe to our government WhatsApp, you will have seen a wonderful video received today from the chief medical officer, where she discussed this very important issue. Right now, Minister Caines will give an overview of the Bermuda Police Service and the Royal Bermuda Regiment activities over the past weekend, and some other details.
Thank you Minister.
Part of coping with the effects of a global pandemic is to take care of those persons who have been dislocated economically. What do I mean by that? We have a large number of persons who, due to no fault of their own, whether they work in tourism, or in a business that has been required to be closed are not able to earn an income, because they are unable to work from home and their business is not deemed as essential.
I have stated before that this pandemic will cause significant economic damage to our economy but that does not mean that the government is powerless. We do have the ability to help. Minister Foggo will speak next on the fact that we have provided a significant amount of money to those persons who have, due to no fault of their own, are unable to earn an income, and I'm proud to lead a government that responded very quickly to make sure that persons in need in our community would not starve and would have the resources which they need to survive during this very difficult and challenging time.
Minister Foggo.
Thank you Minister Foggo, and I'd like to give tribute to you and your team for working so quickly to make sure that we can get this assistance to Bermudians who certainly require it at this difficult time.
As the Attorney-General and Minister for Legal Affairs, Kathy Simmons mentioned last week, the shelter for Bermuda’s homeless and vulnerable population moved from The Berkeley Institute to the temporary Shelter in Place accommodation at CedarBridge Academy.
The shelter is fully operational, providing 24 hour accommodation for those who need it. The facility is managed by the team at the Department of Child and Family Services with professional assistance from the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute and the St Johns Ambulance.
There is currently a need for medical support between the hours of 8am and 6pm. I will echo the request made by the Attorney-General last week, if there are nurses and doctors who are able to volunteer their services at the shelter, they should contact 707-2223 for more information. The Government will welcome your assistance.
The CedarBridge Academy temporary shelter, with appropriate social distancing in place, has 40 beds available. Over the last two nights, 33 men and four women were accommodated.
Many would heard helicopters flying overhead earlier today. Last week Government House announced that RFA Argus, a ship of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, would be anchored in Bermuda’s waters today and tomorrow.
While here, two helicopters from RFA Argus will conduct familiarisation flights over helicopter landing sites around the island. This was last done in 2014 and is a key part of the hurricane preparedness plan for Bermuda. It should be noted, there was no contact between the ship’s crew, helicopter pilots and any onshore persons. The Argus is also collecting supplies before heading to the Caribbean as part of the UK’s preparedness support and the ship will stay at anchor and no one will disembark from the vessel.
They were also a number of media queries earlier today regarding an advertisement for a private jet that was looking to return persons to the United States.
I would like to remind everyone that before any jets are given permission to come to Bermuda, they have to meet a number of criteria. That permission is not automatically given as any jet that is returning residents to the country must use extra seats to return stranded Bermudians back home.
The flight that was advertised earlier today has not yet received the required permission to land in Bermuda. We have a process, and I would encourage that all persons, follow the process and not advertise something before the required permissions are received.
The government will be looking to adjust our policies going forward to match those seen in other countries where persons in government quarantine facilities pay for their accommodation and food. The Cabinet will be meeting tomorrow to approve this revised policy, and it will be communicated to all persons.
Last week I touched on the emotional well-being helpline.
The emotional well-being helpline, which can be called at 543-1111 opened on Friday, 10 April, and it has received 32 calls, as of last night. As a reminder, the service is anonymous. If you have questions or concerns around your own mental health or how to support friends and family who are dealing with loss, anxiety, and other feelings, that can be overwhelming, please make use of this service. That number again is 543-1111.
In closing. Lives have been lost. Families have been forced to say goodbye to loved ones before their time, and yet there are some persons on this island that seem to think that this situation of this pandemic is a joke.
I must stress again, that if you do not care about your own life, please show some compassion and respect for the lives of others. It is clear that we can only stem the tide of COVID-19, if we remain calm, remain disciplined, and most of all remain united, recognizing that in this we are all our brother's keeper, and the only way that we can keep our country safe is for all of us to do our part.
Thank you and I'm happy to take any questions from the media at this time.