Good Afternoon Bermuda,
I am joined today by the Minister of Health, the Hon. Kim Wilson and the Minister of Youth, Culture and Sport Dr. The Hon. Ernest Peets as we provide the country with an update on the public health regulations in response to the growing threat of the Omicron variant.
What we know is that this Omicron variant is highly transmissible, and as the Minister of Health will outline, it is causing a swift increase in our active cases. The Government is acting quickly to implement changes that we believe will help protect our health care system and give our schools the best chance of opening safely in the new year.
As a country, we have experience with transmissible variants. We all recall the Alpha variant last April, the Delta variant this Autumn and the severe impact they both had on our students, healthcare system, and our community. While we don't yet fully know what the Omicron Variant will mean for Bermuda, and while we are in a different place than last year with increased vaccinations, boosters, and rapid testing, this Government will not underestimate Omicron and the potential impact it could have.
As the Chief Science Advisor for the U.K Government Sir Patrick Valence has said regarding implementing restrictions - “Earlier than you want, harder than you want, broader than you want. - you can delay harsher restrictions later”.
With early and decisive action, we hope to avoid what we went through with the delta variant, where extraordinary measures had to be taken in response to the number of deaths at our hospital and spare as many families as possible from having to grieve the loss of a loved one. This will require us to continue working together as a community to protect public health.
I now welcome the Minister of Health to update the country on our latest coronavirus statistics and the changes to the public health regulations.
Thank you, Minister of Health and thank you to your team at the Ministry and all of our frontline teams involved in testing and vaccinations who continue to work extremely hard and provide Bermuda with one of the best testing regimes and vaccination programmes in the world.
The regulations announced by the Minister of Health will go into effect from Thursday 23rd December and will be in effect until at least 20th January.
The Government recognises that the regulations announced today will disappoint many persons and businesses. We understand that plans will be affected, and events will need to be changed or may even be cancelled. We do not like this at all and do not enjoy implementing such measures at any time, but especially at this time of year. However, we cannot ignore the rapid pace at which our cases are increasing or ignore the record cases being reported worldwide, including in the U.K., where they recently reported their highest daily total for positive cases of the entire pandemic with over 91,000 persons testing positive in a single day.
We know that there will be pushback, but the Government would rather get push back for implementing a curfew to protect public health than for students not to be able to go to school. Governing is about choices.
I fully understand that many were looking forward to Christmas this year - and while there may be a need to adjust your plans, it will still be possible to have a Christmas with family and friends. Was it the Christmas we thought we would have three weeks ago? No - but that doesn’t mean that we cannot still gather and share our traditions
We just need to be safe and follow the advice that the Minister of Health has laid out today, utilise the availability of rapid antigen testing and the basic public health guidance that assists in slowing the spread of the coronavirus. To quote the head of the WHO “An event cancelled is better than a life cancelled” and we must all work together to protect life, protect the healthcare system, including our testers and contact tracers, protect schools and ultimately to protect our country.
I must also implore those that are travelling, especially during this holiday season to be careful - we are seeing a large number of imported cases coming into the country, with a significant portion being returning residents. To assist the Ministry of Health, additional funds have been allocated for enforcement. The regiment will be out to enforce the quarantine orders given to travellers and households with travellers or positive cases as we continue to strengthen our response to this new variant
I now invite Minister Peets to update the country regarding large groups events and sport…
Thank you Minister Peets and thank you to your team at the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sport for all of their continued hard work.
In two weeks our students will be preparing to return to the classroom and in order to ensure a safe return for schools, the Ministry of Education worked with MDL to put a comprehensive testing plan in place to ensure all teachers and students could be tested in time for a return to work and school on January 4th and 5th respectively.
Due to the volume of testing required and to allow MDL adequate time to deliver results, it was necessary for testing to take place in advance of January 4th, when teachers are scheduled to report for work in preparation for schools opening on January 5th. Testing on January 4th would not allow MDL the sufficient time it needs to process the large volume of tests and could lead to delays in students returning to the classroom forcing parents to miss work and possibly lose wages in an already decimated economy.
The date for public schools teachers and staff to book their appointments was originally January 1st and has since been extended to include 2nd and 3rd January to allow more options for teachers and staff to book. I thank our teachers for their understanding and for sacrificing their time as we all work together towards the same goal of getting students back into the classroom as safely as possible.
I want to note that the discussions with MDL on Friday past and the subsequent increase in days for testing from 1 to 3 days for staff was inadvertently not relayed to the BUT and I apologise for that. As the BUT stated in their letter to the Ministry which I agree, “..we have all had to adjust due to this pandemic..”, I can readily admit that all of us have had to make sacrifices since April 2020 that has not
been comfortable at times. However, the parameters we have to operate in sometimes change quickly and suddenly, and I repeat my call to all of our valued educators to sign up on one of the 3 days set aside for them to test to help us get our schools back in.
Bermuda as we head into this holiday season, we find ourselves once again with restrictions that will affect how we would traditionally celebrate with family and loved ones. I urge my fellow Bermudians to also remember those 106 families that will not be able to celebrate with their families this year. These restrictions introduced are not intended to take away from your holiday cheer with your families and loved ones but to keep us all safe. Please, act responsible, wear your masks, sanitize and physical distance as much as you can. I also encourage you to follow a healthy lifestyle to build your immune systems and do your research and get vaccinated if it is right for you.
I want extend my deepest gratitude to all those who have worked tirelessly to keep our country safe. I also want to wish all of my fellow Bermudians a safe and prosperous Christmas season and a Happy New Year. Continue to be safe and we will come out of this in a better place I am confident.
God Bless you Bermuda