Good Afternoon,
Today there were 195 test results received by the Ministry of Health; and 3 were positive for COVID-19.
Bermuda now has 118 total confirmed positive cases. Their status is as follows:
- there are 52 active cases, of which
- 37 persons are under active public health monitoring, and
- 15 persons are hospitalized;
- a total of 59 have now recovered, and
- the total deceased remains 7.
The average age of all of our confirmed positive cases is 60 and the age range of all of our positive cases is from 18 to 101 years. The age of persons hospitalized ranges between 64 and 91 years, and the average age is 77.
As of today, we have tested 247 care home residents and 302 staff members from twelve different care homes. Of all those tested, 505 results have come back negative with 44 positive. We plan to finish the testing of all care homes by Sunday.
I would now like to clarify how cases and countries are classified, as the terms sometimes overlap and can cause some confusion.
Cases can be classified as imported, local transmission, or under investigation. An imported case is a person who was exposed to COVID-19 abroad.
A case is classified as local transmission if the person has no history of travel and has a known exposure to an imported or confirmed case in Bermuda.
A case is considered under investigation until an exposure to COVID-19 is determined, at which point it will be classified as either imported or local transmission as appropriate.
If no link is found within 4 weeks of a positive result, the individual case will be classified as “local transmission”. We are not classifying individual cases as “community transmission” to avoid confusion with “community transmission” on a country level.
Community transmission is a country classification which is defined by World Health Organization as larger outbreaks of local transmission defined through an assessment of factors including, but not limited to, large numbers of cases not linkable to transmission chains and/or multiple unrelated clusters in several areas of the country.
Other categories included by the World Health Organization are sporadic cases and clusters of cases. Bermuda is currently classified as clusters of cases – which is a category for countries with local transmission. We will advise immediately if the country status changes.
Over the past few weeks, the Ministry of Health has created various guidance documents regarding face masks – from how to make them to how to wear them…and I have to say, I’ve seen some very impressive homemade cloth masks over the past few days.
Today, I want to clarify WHEN to wear masks. The short answer is that you should wear a mask whenever you are outside of your home. This includes at the grocery store, while taking public transport or taxis, and for workers at all workplace premises…unless, of course, you are working from home.
There are exceptions to this guidance. You can remove your mask while engaging in strenuous exercise outdoors such as running and jogging, but you must put it back on once you have completed your exercise if you plan to be around others, outside of your home.
Delivery personnel MUST wear a mask when going about their business, in accordance with current regulations.
Lastly, mask-wearing is not recommended for young children below the age of two, for child safety reasons.
I want to remind the public that, because there is currently a global shortage of surgical masks, Bermuda needs to conserve these masks for those who need them most, such as our healthcare workers and those who are sick.
Reusable (cloth) masks complement safe physical distancing measures and provide some basic protection. Masks help protect others from you, in case you are infected but unaware.
And, remember, I wear a mask to protect you; you wear a mask to protect me.
For more information on mask wearing or making go to coronavirus.gov.bm.
Now that the shelter in place restrictions have ended and we are in phase one of reopening, business leaders must do their due diligence to ensure that employees are adequately protected when returning to work.
In light of this, ‘Return to Work’ Guidance for Businesses has been created with recommendations to assist employers in establishing workplace protocols to protect employee health and safety when returning to work after COVID-19.
It includes sections on infection prevention & control measures, return to work considerations, occupational risk assessments, site cleaning & disinfection protocols, site operations and risk management, as well as general information on COVID-19. It also provides a sample screening questionnaire for employees returning to work after the shelter in place and an occupational safety & health risk assessment template.
Additionally, it contains information for specific populations and work groups. For example, there is industry-specific guidance for Healthcare Professionals, Care Homes, Offices and Banking Services, Construction, Mechanical & Landscaping, Warehouses, Auto Dealers and Retail Operations.
We recommend that screening protocols be in place before employees return to work. Employee screening will help ensure that any symptomatic individuals are identified before coming to the facility and to prevent the potential spread of infection.
In addition to employee screening, once employees arrive to work it is advisable that clear reporting procedures be developed and communicated to all staff. These procedures must inform staff of what to do if they were to develop respiratory symptoms.
Conducting an assessment of employee occupational risk of exposure to COVID-19 will be crucial in determining what steps are needed upon re-opening your business. Occupational risk will vary from very high, high, medium or lower risk. The level of risk will depend on several factors, including:
- industry type and job responsibilities;
- the need for close contact with persons who are known or suspected to be infected with COVID-19;
- the need for close contact with the general public;
- the need for repeated or extended contact with the general public; and
- employee susceptibility to infectious diseases.
It is essential to determine which occupational risk category your employees fall into. In doing so you must consider that different groups of employees may be exposed to different risk levels. You must also take into consideration whether or not you have any medically vulnerable employees in your workplace. This information will determine the types of controls that may be needed in your workplace.
Once your business re-opens, it is essential that protocols are in place to outline what employees must do if they develop respiratory or flu-like symptoms when at work. These protocols must outline, as a minimum, who employees must report to, what information is reported and who maintains this information. We recommend that the person(s) in charge of maintaining accident/dangerous occurrence reports and other occupational safety and health issues at your business should be responsible for this.
We also recommend that a specific location be designated for employees who develop respiratory or flu-like symptoms at work, to ensure that they are adequately isolated from the rest of the workforce. This location must be communicated to all employees so that they can report to this area, as needed. All areas where these employees have been must be cordoned off and appropriately cleaned and disinfected.
Before employees return to work we recommend that thorough cleaning and disinfection of the work facility be conducted. Disinfection should focus on frequently touched and flat surfaces throughout the facility and must be done multiple times daily with EPA-approved disinfectants or a bleach solution only.
Again, that guidance can be found at coronavirus.gov.bm.
In closing, I just want to highlight the availability of the Emotional Wellbeing Hotline at 543-1111 as a resource to our community while we weather this storm. That number again is 543-1111.
We realise that these are times of extreme heightened stress and anxiety – particularly for those who are quarantined and those being tested for COVID-19 – and therefore I want to remind people that this resource exists for you. Thank you to those individuals who man the phone lines at the Wellbeing Hotline, providing this vital service for our community.
Finally, I want to thank another group of people trying to help out those who may also be struggling…Thank you to the Market Place who announced today that they will be offering a 5 per cent discount to all Financial Assistance clients from now until October 31st. This applies to all of their Market Place and Price Rite stores on any day of the week.
Thank you.