The Ministry of Health wishes to advise the public that there are still no cases of COVID-19 in Bermuda.
To date, 67 travelers with a relevant travel history have received public health follow-up upon arrival into Bermuda.
There are currently no individuals under active monitoring. This is because no one has recently entered Bermuda from high risk areas.
As of today, the countries for which there is a travel advisory and public health follow up include: China, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. This is expected to change tomorrow to include Italy and Iran.
"The Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (ESU) continues to monitor the global situation and acknowledges that there is understandable anxiety about the situation because it is changing so quickly," said Chief Medical Officer Dr. Cheryl Peek-Ball. "I want to reassure the public that the risk remains low for those who have not travelled to affected countries."
To stay updated on the affected countries, the ESU is following guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO). For public health guidance to manage travelers, the ESU is following the lead of Public Health England, which posts updates daily. To reflect the changing ‘affected areas’ worldwide, the ESU has updated its page on the government website: www.gov.bm/health-data-and-monitoring and will continue to do on a daily basis.
Residents should take note that travel to China or areas with active person-person transmission of the virus is still not advised. Upon return from such travel, residents should be prepared to be self-quarantined to their homes and monitored for 14 days.
"If you become ill following travel to a COVID-19 risk area (mainland China and some neighboring countries), please call ahead to your doctor’s office for advice and inform them of your travel risk before going into any healthcare setting," said Dr. Peek-Ball. "The best protection from this disease and all respiratory illnesses is good hand hygiene. When ill, stay away from others - do not attend work or school - and, again, seek medical advice by phone in advance of going to a healthcare setting. Calling ahead is critical before seeking care in both the Emergency Department and other healthcare facilities."
For advice on what your workplace can do to prepare for COVID-19 go here: https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/getting-workplace-ready-for-covid-19.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2vJ0gNeaq5N6HYA0BBJIwwjM1D6Fyetbyjdb6TTOF-jy1sJcIkJZYWFcU
The Ministry of Health will continue to issue a weekly press statement on Thursdays and will continue to update its website regularly.
The Minister of Health the Hon. Kim Wilson JP MP said, “I wish remind the public that the Government website should be the trusted source of local information regarding COVID-19: www.gov.bm/health-data-and-monitoring. Likewise, Government's Facebook page, Twitter page and Treefrog App will be updated immediately as new developments occur.”