COVID-19 Update 23 December 2021

Since the last update, the Ministry of Health received 5,849 test results and 97 were positive for COVID-19, giving a test positivity rate of 1.6%.

These results are from testing done on:

  • Sunday: 21 positive out of 1,534 results (1.4% positivity)
  • Monday: 37 positive out of 2,307 results (1.6% positivity)
  • Tuesday: 39 positive out of 2,008 results (1.9% positivity)

Sixty-seven (67) of the new cases are classified as imported with history of travel in the previous 14 days.

The additional 30 new cases are classified as either local transmission (12) or under investigation (18).

Additionally, there were 15 recoveries and 0 deaths.

There are 234 active cases, of which:

  • 232 are under public health monitoring; and
  • Two (2) are in hospital with 0 in intensive care.

Since March 2020, Bermuda has recorded 6,014 coronavirus cases, out of which 5,674 have recovered, and sadly there have been 106 coronavirus-related deaths.

The source of all active cases is as follows:

  • 164 are Imported
  • 43 are classified as local transmission
  • 27 are Under Investigation

Active cases by vaccination status, transmission, and type:

  • Imported cases: 94% are fully vaccinated and 6% are not fully vaccinated.
  • Local/Under Investigation cases: 81% are fully vaccinated and 19% are not fully vaccinated.
  • Of the 160 active cases where typing is available, 10% (16) are Delta, 90% (144) are Omicron.

The source of all confirmed cases is as follows:

  • 891 are Imported
  • 5,093 are classified as local transmission of which:
  • 3,131 are Local transmission with known contact/source and
  • 1,962 are Local transmission with an unknown contact/source
  • 30 are Under Investigation

As investigations proceed, transmission categories may change. For information regarding age distributions and overall transmission categories, please refer to https://www.gov.bm/coronavirus-covid19-update. The seven-day average of our real time reproduction number is less than 1 (0.82).

The Ministry of Health also provided an update on the current vaccination programme status.

The Ministry notes that 49 weeks of vaccinations have now been completed. Since January 11th, Bermuda’s residents have received a total of 112,695 vaccinations.

Of the 112,695 vaccinations given as of December 18:

  • 52% are women and 48% are men
  • 86.8% of all residents over the age of 65 years have had at least one vaccination; and
  • 85.5% are fully immunized

To date, 72.3% of the population has been vaccinated (1 dose) and 70.9% of the population has been immunized (2 doses).

Additionally, 31.4% of the population have received a booster.

Lastly, as a reminder, the Ministry notes that as Bermuda heads into the long holiday weekend the public is urged to please adhere to the current guidelines and requirements that are in place. The public should note that the Omicron variant is rapidly spreading. The public cannot become complacent. And any regulations that are in place are there to protect and save lives. Please continue to wear your mask, wash your hands, keep physically distanced from others not in your household, and add antigen tests to your pandemic toolbox before you socialize with your family and friends.