The Ministry of Health has made an important update to the Amendments to the Quarantine (COVID-19) (No. 3) Order 2020 that went into effect on December 13th, 2021.

Initially, the requirement was that visitors aged 12 years or older who are not ordinarily resident in Bermuda must be fully immunised to land in Bermuda, whether arriving by air or by sea.

The age has now been changed and all visitors aged18 years, and older who are not ordinarily resident in Bermuda must be fully immunised to land in Bermuda, whether by air or sea.

Since the last update, the Ministry of Health received 6762 test results, and 20 were positive for the coronavirus, giving a test positivity rate of 0.3%.

These results are from testing done on:

·Wednesday: 4 positive out of 1563 results (0.3% positivity)

·Thursday: 6 positive out of 2053 results (0.3% positivity)

·Friday: 2 positive out of 1794 results (0.1% positivity)

·Saturday: 8 positive out of 1352 results (0.6% positivity)

11 of the new cases are classified as imported with a history of travel in the previous 14 days.

Since the last update, the Ministry of Health received 3529 test results, and four were positive for the coronavirus, giving a test positivity rate of 0.1%.

These results are from testing done on:

•        Sunday: 0 positive out of 1020 results (0.0% positivity)

•        Monday: 2 positive out of 1303 results (0.2% positivity)

•        Tuesday: 2 positive out of 1206 results (0.2% positivity)

Good afternoon.

I am joined today by the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Ayoola Oyinloye, and Dr Carika Weldon, Director of the Bermuda Molecular Diagnostics & Research Laboratory.

Bermuda currently has 31 active cases, all of which are persons under public health monitoring, with no-one in the hospital.

Of the active cases:

Since the last update, the Ministry of Health received 6109 test results, and 9 were positive for the coronavirus, giving a test positivity rate of 0.1%.
These results are from testing done on:

·                  Wednesday: 2 positive out of 1455 results (0.1% positivity)

·                  Thursday: 3 positive out of 2071 results (0.1% positivity)

Since the last update, the Ministry of Health received 4063 test results, and 3 were positive for the coronavirus, giving a test positivity rate of 0.1%.

These results are from testing done on:

§  Sunday: 0 positive out of 1125 results (0.0% positivity)

§  Monday: 1 positive out of 1448 results (0.1% positivity)

§  Tuesday: 2 positive out of 1490 results (0.1% positivity)

All 3 of the new cases are classified as imported with a history of travel in the previous 14 days.

Yesterday, December 1st, marked World AIDS Day. The theme for World AIDS Day 2021 is 'Ending the HIV Epidemic: Equitable Access, Everyone's Voice'. The objective is to communicate the importance of equitable access to health services and the importance of strengthening actions at the primary health care level. World AIDS Day 2021 also emphasizes HIV combination prevention and treatment services and promotes work with communities to reach the people most vulnerable to HIV and other pandemics.

Since the last update, the Ministry of Health received 6804 test results, and 18 were positive for the coronavirus, giving a test positivity rate of 0.3%.

These results are from testing done on:

·Wednesday: 6 positive out of 1869 results (0.3% positivity)

·Thursday: 1 positive out of 1798 results (0.1% positivity)

·Friday: 3 positive out of 1776 results (0.2% positivity)

·Saturday: 8 positive out of 1361 results (0.6% positivity)

14 of the new cases is classified as imported with a history of travel in the previous 14 days.

Good Afternoon Members of the Media and the people of Bermuda,

Today I am joined by the Minister of Health, the Hon. Kim Wilson and the Minister of Education, the Hon. Diallo Rabain, as we elaborate on the statements made in the House of Assembly today regarding the updates to COVID-19 public health regulations, schools moving to Phase 2, and items pertaining to our borders and tourism.

We will soon hear from the Minister of Health on the updates to the public health regulations, followed by the Minister of Education regarding schools.

Mr Speaker,

I rise this morning in this Honourable House to provide an update on the on-going impact of COVID-19 in our schools and the preventative measures that have been put in place in both our public and our private schools to keep our children safe.

Mr Speaker,