There were 650 test results received by the Ministry of Health since the last update and four were positive for COVID-19.  One of the new cases is classified as imported by a resident who arrived on DL 617 from New York on 4 January 2021 and tested positive on their arrival test.

Two of the new cases are classified as local transmission with known contacts as they are associated with known cases.

The additional new case is classified as under investigation. This case is among a resident with no currently identified links to other known cases or history of travel in the past 14 days.

Additionally, since the last update, 9 cases have recovered.

There are currently 94 active cases, of which;

·         89 are under public health monitoring and

·         5 are in hospital with none in critical care;

Since March 2020, Bermuda has recorded 636 total confirmed cases of COVID-19; out of those, 531 persons have recovered and 11 persons sadly succumbed to COVID-19.

The mean age of all confirmed positive cases is 43 years (median: 40 years) and the age range is less than 1 year to greater than 100 years.

The mean age of all currently active cases is 41 years (median: 41 years) and the age range is less than 10 years (age group: 5-9 years) to greater than 80 years (age group: 80-100 years).

The mean age of all currently hospitalized cases is 53 years (median: 54 years) and the age range is less than 30 years (age group: 20-29 years) to greater than 80 years (age group: 80-100 years).

The mean age of all deceased cases is 77 years (median: 80 years) and the age range is less than 60 years (age group: 50-59 years) to greater than 80 years (age group: 80-100 years).

The source of all cases is as follows:

·         169 are Imported

·         401 are classified as local transmission of which:

·         364 are Local transmission with known contact/source and

·         37 are Local transmission with an unknown contact/source

·         66 are Under Investigation

As investigations proceed, transmission categories may change.  Today’s update has 13 cases moving from under investigation to local transmission with known contact/source and 2 cases moving from under investigation to local transmission with unknown contact/source.

The seven-day average of our real time reproduction number is less than 1 (0.60) and Bermuda’s current country status remains “Clusters of Cases”.

The Ministry of Health would like to remind returning residents that, per Quarantine (COVID-19) (No 3) Order 2020, travellers landing in Bermuda without a pre-arrival test will be charged $300 at the airport. There are no refunds, so you are advised to plan ahead and, carefully consider if you should be travelling at all. The Government's policy has not changed in this regard; we encourage residents to be tested before returning and have your test results with you on arrival to avoid the $300 fee.

If you are using the Costco/AZOVA Health test, please read the company’s testing procedures very carefully. The BTA has a handy outline of the process on its website, gotobermuda.com, with links to the Costco site. 

The Ministry would also like to remind the public that they will begin administering the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses on Monday, 11 January, 2021, to healthcare and essential workers who agree to take the vaccine. In this context, essential frontline workers are those who provide services which prevent social disruption and allow society to function and who are also at risk for higher levels of exposure to COVID-19. This includes firemen, police, corrections officers, personnel at the ports of entry and teachers.

They will also administer the first batch of the vaccine to our most vulnerable, seniors in rest homes and long-term care facilities, who have given their consent. There is no cost for the vaccine and they will be administered at sites arranged by the Department of Health and with primary care physicians who have been approved by the Department of Health.