Good evening Bermuda.

I begin my remarks tonight by sending my sincere condolences to the family and friends of former Senator and Junior Minister, Laverne Furbert, who sadly passed away this weekend. 

She was fearless in her convictions and unwavering in her support of Bermuda’s workers, social justice, and equality in our society. Ms. Furbert will be fondly remembered for her strength, dedication, and vibrant spirit.

Following consultation with the Leader of the Opposition, the Government will designate her funeral a recognition funeral which means that an official condolence book will be prepared, and assistance will be lent to the family for funeral arrangements by the Government’s Protocol Office and also support from the Department of Communications.

Tonight, I'm joined by the Minister of Health, the Hon. Kim Wilson who will provide an update on the vaccination programme, including the number of residents vaccinated, the number of persons who are registered and the forward plans regarding vaccines and other matters related to her ministry that are important, that persons, pay attention to. 

I will be providing an update on the changes to the current measures which measures will remain in place, and I will also touch briefly on the expansion of the vaccination programme and answering some questions which will come in online from a number of persons regarding rule changes in the future and what can we plan and expect. 

First we'll hear from the Minister of Health. 

Thank you, Minister for that very comprehensive report and updates and it's amazing to know that with the vaccinations that took place yesterday, and certainly the work that's taking place today that we have now, administered well over 5,000 doses and certainly there would be 5,000 persons who would have gotten a first jab of the vaccine. So I am very grateful for the work that is certainly taking place. 

On behalf of the people of Bermuda, I want to thank you and your team for all of the continued hard work, energy and effort that has been going on for so long. The health workers of this country are our heroes and whether it's outbreaks whether it's calm times whatever time it is they have been working at this day and night for the last 12 months and we owe them our gratitude. 

Earlier today, the Cabinet met to discuss the measures in place during the Public Health Emergency related to the coronavirus. In line with recommendations for the Ministry of Health, and with the support of the COVID-19 Cabinet Committee, which did meet yesterday. Earlier today, the Cabinet agreed to the following changes:

The first change is that indoor funeral attendance can increase from 20% to 25% of the maximum capacity or the facility in which it is held. 

Outdoor funeral attendance can increase from 25 persons to 50 persons.

Table size within restaurants, bars and nightclubs can increase from a maximum of six persons to a maximum of ten persons. 

The Government is also changing it advice regarding working from home.  Before working from home was strongly recommended. We are now changing that and we encourage remote working, where possible.

Measures that are not changing:

The current curfew will remain in place from 12 midnight until 5am.  This decision was taken with advice from Health, the curfew has been effective in reducing social mixing. 

I know that many want to end curfew and I would like to be able to do so as well. But at this time, the Health advice is that it continue to remain in place. And we know that it is important that Health advice is adhered to.

Group gatherings that are private or public setting outside of an outdoor funeral will remain at a maximum of 25 people. This has not been increased, and again, will remain at 25, persons. 

The changes will come into effect on Thursday February 4 at 6am.

As per normal these measures will be reviewed by the Cabinet on a regular basis. The next update is expected in two weeks. 

The government understands that many may have been hoping – and my social media is without question telling me that – that all measures, including the curfew would have been relaxed completely, and therefore may be disappointed, that for now, it remains in place. 

It is essential that we are cautious and calculated as to when we relax these measures. It is important to remember that COVID-19 is still a threat. As we see it, to continuing to disrupt life around the world for persons who are saying that the curfew should end because our active cases are so low. Before our last outbreak, our active cases were low too and it is essential that we continue to confirm that there is not a risk as it will only take one super spreader event, just as we had before, to put us back into the same situation where we were. 

So we are going to continue to work through this process, and do not let the numbers fool you, as you may be lulled into a false sense of security and we've learned from our lessons, and we're not going to repeat those mistakes. 

Please adhere to the measures in place. Get tested, and if eligible register for the vaccine and ensure to get those shots to be fully protected. Remember, testing is free for residents. If you are going to host an event at your place, which is not advised, you should consider asking your friends to get tested. 

The last thing that you want is to be stuck in quarantine, or worse contract the virus and pass it on to your family. There is testing capacity, here in Bermuda, which has not been reduced as some has suggested, and it is important that we take advantage of that testing capacity. 

Yesterday the Minister of Health, the Opposition Leader, Government Science Advisor Dr. Carika Weldon and I were fortunate to receive our second vaccination shots.

I am doing fine. I think the nurses and staff the Police Recreation Club Vaccination Centre for making it an efficient process and ensuring that everyone who attends is seen to professionally. I also want to thank the Royal Bermuda Regiment for their support of the Vaccination Centre’s operations and their ongoing service throughout the pandemic. 

As the minister mentioned Bermuda has now received its second delivery of vaccines, with an additional 19,500 doses of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine arriving from the United Kingdom on Friday, January 29. 

This second batch will allow us to vaccinate an additional 9,750 persons. I should say, at least another 9,750 persons. As a country, our goal remains to vaccinate 19,000 residents or 36% of the eligible population by the end of March. 

I'm grateful to the individuals, as the Minister of Health mentioned, over 13,000 of them that have registered their interest so far. And I am pleased to see the number of Black residents that have registered steadily increasing. 

If you're watching on CITV, there should be a graph on the screen. The graph shows the percentage of Black residents registered out of total in the day who choose to identify their race. The percentage of residents identifying as Black is increasing with spikes specifically recorded on January 21 and January 27. 

As more information on the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine is provided, I strongly encourage all residents to read this information for themselves. I also encourage you to speak with those who, you know, have already been vaccinated to ask them about their experience. Yes, your arm does hurt. That is normal for any shot or any vaccination, of which you may take. The more we share credible and factual information, the more we can combat vaccine hesitancy and move forward to vaccine acceptance. 

Many have asked how will taking the vaccine change your day to day life. At this moment, the one thing that we know for sure is that the vaccine is 95% effective in ensuring that you do not contract the coronavirus. 

However, at this time, after you received the vaccine, you should continue protecting yourself. Wear your mask, practice physical distancing, and make sure you continue to practice appropriate hand hygiene and download the WeHealth Bermuda app. 

This week I will meet with the Minister of Health, the Minister of Transport and the Bermuda Tourism Authority to begin working on formulating a long term tourism and travel strategy for you. I say that as we might have to change our approach given the changing circumstances in the world. 

The government will also discuss implementing a quarantine for all travelers who are arriving, who are not vaccinated. Right now this only applies to persons arriving from the United Kingdom, but we should address our strategy as conditions change in the world. 

Further, the government is working on rule changes for those who have received a second dose of the vaccine, and at our press conference on February 16, which is in two weeks, we will be able to release, what those changes will be. 

This is two weeks after the second doses were able to be administered here. And at that time, we will have the first resident who will have the full protection against the virus that the vaccine can offer. As the Minister stated soon we will be moving to phase two of the vaccination programme. Before that I strongly encourage all eligible persons to register. 

Public Service vehicle licensed drivers like taxi and bus drivers are eligible to receive the vaccine, so please make sure you register. I've heard some complaints from taxi drivers who may be picking up our tourists at the airport, etc. Please go ahead and register and get yourself vaccinated.

The Government will increase the number of vaccination centres. A third vaccination centre would allow for more persons to receive the vaccine daily and help us to increase the number vaccinated. As the Minister of Health said our new target will be moved up to 800 per day. The details of the third vaccination centre will be announced before the end of the week, but before then, I would like to thank the team at the Bermuda College for working with the Government in this initiative. 

Moving to other matters. Yesterday, the Minister of Finance the Hon. Curtis Dickinson announced that the government had been reimbursed the approximately $11 million loan that was paid to the 700 employees of the Fairmont Southampton by the owners Gencom.

The payment from the Government to the workers in October 2020 was necessary, as there was no guarantee from the owners, when they would be able to make the payment themselves. This Government is committed to ensuring that workers are respected and can live their everyday lives with dignity, especially during these difficult times. 

The employees of Southampton Princess, were not given a handout, but rightly paid what they were owed. Our intervention was an important demonstration that people will always be given priority over profits by the Government of Bermuda. 

I must however say this. It is noticeable that we have had silence from the usual commentators or the Opposition, who criticized this arrangement that was made by the Minister of Finance. It is okay. You can tell the Minister of Finance, “Job well done”, and that you may have been wrong. 

Bermuda is fortunate to have a Minister of Finance of the calibre of Curtis Dickinson, and I want to congratulate him publicly for his work in this because I know that it has been incredibly tiring but he has made the Government proud. 

As I said last week we must have confidence in ourselves to work together and to solve the problems together. And in this case, in this instance, the Minister of Finance has done that. And Minister of Finance, I know that Aunt Laverne would be very proud. 

I would also like to thank Gencom for keeping their word. Now, it is on to the next phase of the development, and we're going to be working and engaging with GenCom on that, to make sure that we can advance the redevelopment of that property, so that we can have it open, as soon as possible.

Last week, Bermuda endured severe weather with storm force winds that led to power loss for many. Thanks to the collective efforts of everyone involved, we weathered the storm, with few disruptions to services. 

I think the Minister of National Security the Hon. Renee Ming, Dr. Mark Guishard of the Bermuda Weather Service, and all the EMO agencies for their planning and leadership that helped us prepare for the weather event. Unfortunately we've had some more inclement weather last night into this morning but thankfully, not as severe. 

In closing, I am proud of how as a people, we have worked together to get where we are. We can enjoy a sense of normality the majority of the world cannot enjoy at this time. Though, we were able to announce positive changes to some measures tonight, this is not the time to throw caution to the wind. Let us continue to be consistent in the actions that have helped us make progress in these last few months, and let us work together to make further progress. We all need to do our part. Again, I beg you, there is testing capacity available. Please get tested and if you're eligible, please register for the vaccination. 

Before I take questions, I will end with my usual comments that we know that many in our community may require extra emotional support. If you need someone to talk to, please call the emotional wellbeing hotline. 

The phone number is 543 1111. Again 543 1111. It is available now if you wish the call is open Monday to Saturday, 5pm to 9pm. If you are not feeling yourself, feeling isolated, or feeling anxious, please call, as there is help available. 

As a reminder, to get accurate, reliable and timely information please sign up for the Government’s WhatsApp service. They will also be able to notify you if our press conference is running late. Sometimes it does, as we had a long Cabinet meeting today. 

Add the phone number 504 6045 to your contacts and send us a simple message saying hi. That number again is 504 6045, and you will receive updates from the Government of Bermuda.

Additionally, you can get Government updates by downloading the Treefrog app. IT is available at the Apple store, or in Google Play, in the search bar just type Treefrog Bermuda, and download that free app today. 

And finally, if you have not done so, and you are planning on going out to be at a restaurant or somewhere else, please ensure that you download the WeHealth Bermuda app, and follow the precautions that are in place.

Before I take questions to the media, there were two other adjustments which were not inside of my speech in regards to our protocols

The time curfew for the water has been pushed back two hours from 6pm until 8pm, and also there is now limited visiting that is going to be allowed at long-term care facilities. That is only going to be for outdoor visits only, and those are two additional changes, which were approved by the Cabinet today. 

With that, I'm happy to take any questions that members of the media may have on behalf of the people of Bermuda.