COVID-19 Daily Release 19 April 2021

The Ministry of Health received 2100 test results since the last update, and 91 were positive for coronavirus, yielding a test positivity rate of 4.6%.

Four of the new cases are classified as imported by non-residents. One arrived on Jet Blue B62231 from New York on 30 March 2021 and tested positive on their Day 14 test. One arrived on American Airlines AA 2044 from Charlotte on 2 April 2021 and tested positive on their Day 14 test. One arrived on American Airlines AA 2044 from Charlotte on 3 April 2021 and tested positive on their Day 14 test. One arrived on American Airlines AA 2044 from Charlotte on 9 April 2021 and tested positive on their Day 8 test.

Forty-one (41) of the new cases are classified as local transmission with known contact as associated with known cases. The additional 46 new cases are classified as under investigation. These cases are among residents with no currently identified link to other known cases or history of travel in the past 14 days.

Additionally, since the last update, there were 53 recoveries and two deaths, one previously reported (18 April 2021).

There are 904 active cases, of which:

·         864 are under public health monitoring and

·         40 are in hospital with 6 in intensive care;

Since March 2020, Bermuda has recorded 2214 confirmed cases of coronavirus, out of which a total of 1290 have recovered, and 20 persons have sadly succumbed to COVID-19.

Go to https://www.gov.bm/coronavirus-covid19-update for more details.

The seven-day average of our real-time reproduction number is 0.8.

Bermuda’s current WHO country status remains “Community Transmission”.

The Minister of Health, the Hon. Kim Wilson, JP, MP stated, “Sadly, Bermuda has experienced another COVID-19 death today. This brings the total number of COVID-19 deaths in Bermuda to 20.

“I extend my sincere condolences and prayers of support to the family and friends of those who recently died, on behalf of the Government and people of Bermuda. The Ministry will not release personal details about the individual, and I ask the public to respect the privacy of the family as they mourn their loved one.”

“While our number of positive cases is slowly reducing, which is encouraging, this is not an opportunity for us to stop cooperating with the guidelines and safety measures. We much continue to be extremely careful, and remain vigilant and do not mix households.

“The changes to the restrictions go into effect tomorrow, and if you must return to work or leave your home, please remember to avoid closed spaces with poor ventilation, crowded places with many people nearby, and close-contact settings such as close-range conversations.  Six feet must be maintained at all times including during greetings. Avoid shared lunch rooms and gathering, unmasked, outside for your smoke breaks etc. Your work environment and colleagues are not your bubbles.”

Regarding those businesses that will open tomorrow, the Minister of Health advised: “Please adhere to the regulations and don’t push the boundaries. We must all work together to stop the spread of this virus so that we can further roll back the restrictions sooner rather than later.”