Good day.

There were 540 test results received by the Ministry of Health since the last update, and two were positive for COVID-19. One of the new cases is classified as imported by a resident who arrived on S46226 from Azores on 11 January 2021 and tested positive on their day eight test. The second new case is classified as local transmission with known contact as they are associated with a known case.

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

There are currently 54 active cases, of which;

·         50 are under public health monitoring and

·         Four are in hospital with none in critical care;

Since March 2020, Bermuda has recorded 686 total confirmed cases of COVID-19; out of those, 620 persons have recovered, and 12 persons have sadly succumbed to COVID-19.

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

The mean age of all currently active cases is 49 years (median: 47 years), and the ages range from less than 20 years (age group: 10-19 years) to greater than 80 years (age group: 80-100 years).

The mean age of all currently hospitalized cases is 69 years (median: 76 years), and the ages range from less than 50 years (age group: 40-49 years) to greater than 80 years (age group: 80-100 years).

The source of all cases is as follows:

·         196 are imported

·         476 are classified as local transmission of which:

·         394 are local transmission with known contact/source and

·         82 are local transmission with an unknown contact/source

·         14 are under investigation

As investigations proceed, transmission categories may change.  Today’s update has 1 case 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

Of the over 150,000 test results reported, the mean age of all persons tested is 43 years (median:  42 years), and the ages range from less than 1 year to greater than 100 years.

The seven-day average of our real time reproduction number is less than 0.31 and Bermuda’s current country status has been upgraded from “Clusters of Cases” to “Sporadic Cases”.

Regarding Bermuda’s current country status, Minister of Health, Kim Wilson said: “This is good news for Bermuda and represents the progress we have made in decreasing our number of positive cases.”

“The Pan Atlantic Health Organization (PAHO) is now listing Bermuda’s status as Sporadic Cases, Countries/territories/areas with one or more cases, imported or locally detected, and has made the change on their website: https://ais.paho.org/phip/viz/COVID19Table.asp. This change will also be reflected in the next World Health Organization (WHO) update as well.”

“I do want to remind everyone that while we are doing better, we must not let our guard down, keep following the guidelines,” said Minister Wilson.

“Continue physical distancing, wearing a mask, washing your hands, and avoid ‘the 3 Cs’, closed spaces, crowded places and close contact settings,

“If you haven’t already, download WeHealth Bermuda today to help stop the spread of COVID-19 in Bermuda. The download for iPhone: https://apple.co/39RiQU2. The download for Android: https://bit.ly/3o5HHs4. The WeHealth FAQ page is here: https://gov.bm/wehealth-faq, or email covidapps@gov.bm.”

The Ministry of Health is currently accepting registrations of interest to be vaccinated from those residents in Priority Group 1(A) or 1(B). To register, please go to https://forms.gov.bm/covidvaccine

Group 1(A) are individuals who are 80 years or older, care home residents, frontline health care and frontline essential workers. Group 1[B] includes people who are 65 years or older and people who are extremely vulnerable, such as those undergoing chemotherapy or with severe asthma or COPD.”

Filling out this form should take approximately two minutes, and it is important to note that the information you enter will be kept private with the Government of Bermuda. When you submit your registration form, you will receive an auto-generated submission receipt. Your submission will be kept on file, and you will be contacted as appointments become available. Every submission will be replied to, and there is no need for you to re-submit. We do ask that people who registered be patient as we work through all submissions and allocate the appointments.””

For more information on the priority allocation, please visit www.gov.bm/vaccines.