Good afternoon.

I begin my remarks today by offering sincere condolences to the family and friends who recently lost a loved one to circumstances related to the coronavirus. This month we have seen quite a few deaths, and I realise that this is causing unbearable pain for so many families.

I ask everyone to please keep these families in their prayers. As well, keep in our prayers those currently in hospital with COVID-19 related illnesses.

As the number of active cases increases, primarily through community transmission, we need to remember that these are not just numbers; these are people getting sick and dying.

I am going to provide recent statistics on the footfall impact of Covid positive and Presumptive Covid positive Patients on the Emergency Room at the hospital.

The foot traffic between July 15 – 31, shows:

• 3 COVID-19 cases arrived at the hospital, out of
• 1280 emergency room visits
• And the percentage of COVID cases over total ER visits was 0%.

The foot traffic between August 1 – 3 shows:

• 34 COVID-19 cases arrived at the hospital out of
• 2394 emergency room visits
• And the percentage of COVID cases over total ER visits was 1.4%.

The foot traffic between September 1 – 20 shows:

• 212 COVID-19 cases arrived at the hospital out of
• 1341 emergency room visits
• And the percentage of COVID cases over total ER visits was 15.8%.

I provide this information so that the community can better understand the impact on the hospital of this fourth wave. The hospital is managing more than 200 Covid-related ER visits while also providing care to 58 inpatients, 14 of whom are in the ICU.

From January 11, 2021, when Bermuda’s vaccine campaign began, to Epi Week 37 ending September 18, 2021, Bermuda’s Covid-19 hospitalisations and deaths of vaccinated and unvaccinated persons are as follows:

“Hospitalisations [including repeat admissions] totalled 183, of which:

• 169 or 92.3% were not fully vaccinated
• 14 or 7.7% were fully vaccinated

“There were 30 deaths, of which:

• 26 or 86.7% were not fully vaccinated
• 4 or 13.3% were fully vaccinated

Bermuda, this is serious.

I will now provide an update on our vaccination programme.

We have completed week 36 of vaccinations. Since January 11, Bermuda has administered a total of 86,676 vaccinations.

Of the 86,676 vaccinations given as of September 18:

- 52% are women and,

- 48% are men

83.8% of all residents over the age of 65 years have had at least one vaccination, and 82.6% are fully immunised.

To date, 67.8% of the population has been vaccinated (1 dose), and 66.2% of the population has been immunised (2 doses).

As we all know, the Delta variant is easily transmissible and widespread throughout our community. Everything we do should be focused on avoiding infection.

Vaccinations are our best defense against the further spread of the virus, so if you still have not decided to get vaccinated, please do your research and speak to your doctor. The sooner you get vaccinated, the better you can fight the virus if exposed to it. Equally important, you can protect others in the community, which is particularly important for those who cannot be vaccinated, such as our children who we want to get back in the classroom as quickly as possible.

We are expecting a new supply of Pfizer vaccines to arrive on island tomorrow evening, and I encourage anyone who wants to get vaccinated to register their interest as soon as possible on gov.bm/vaccines.

Booster vaccines will be available very soon.

At this time, the recommended target groups for booster vaccines are, in this order, persons who are:

1. Immunosuppressed,
2. Over 65 years old,
3. A healthcare or essential worker, and then,
4. Over 50 years old.

We are not currently administering boosters, and appointments are not being scheduled for boosters at this time. The Ministry of Health is currently working out the delivery details, and we will advise the public once they are available.

Regarding COVID testing, as a reminder, community testing will be scaled back to enable the timely reporting of results, and testing is by appointment only – we cannot do walk-ins at this time. 

Priority for testing will be testing at the border, symptomatic cases & close contacts, exit from quarantine testing, and vulnerable/essential population surveillance (rest homes, students, prisons, healthcare workers). Asymptomatic casual contacts and SafeKey testing will not be a priority for the next couple of weeks. We are focusing our testing resources on the testing required to end this outbreak. 

If you require time-sensitive outbound travel tests, contact one of the private labs, Helix Genetic and Scientific Solutions (helixbermuda.bm), or C & S West Limited (cswest.bm). Both of these labs are certified to carry out COVID-19 testing and diagnostics.

To reduce the number of tests that go to MDL, for destinations that accept rapid antigen tests for outbound tests (all flights except flights to Boston and Canada), the Ministry of Health will be transitioning to these tests for outbound flights as soon as possible.

We are aware of the importation of antigen tests for personal use, and it is important for the public to know that there are many antigen tests which are fake, frankly. The Department of Health will continue to work with HM Customs to mitigate this.

The National Testing Policy is under review now, and we will be providing the public with information to assist understanding the best use for antigen tests and the role they can play in your personal health strategy. I must emphasise the antigen tests do not and will not replace the PCR test the Ministry uses for diagnostics. The PCR test is the gold standard. If you are experiencing symptoms, book a PCR test to be sure.

I look forward to sharing more information with the community in the very near future. 

As a reminder, due to the high volume of positive COVID cases, our contact tracers are focused on high-risk settings, and anyone who has tested positive must do their own contact tracing..

To assist, a new automated notification email process will notify COVID positive patients and named close contacts of their status and their need to isolate or quarantine.

Specifically, when a test result comes back positive, persons will be notified via the email address provided on their test booking. The notification email will include necessary information on the steps the person who tested positive must take regarding isolation and other matters. It will also have a link to an online form that allows the positive person to list their close contacts. These close contacts will be notified about their exposure without disclosing who the positive person is. They, too, will receive information on what health measures they must take.

In closing, I will remind everyone of the basic precautions they must take to stop the spread of this virus.

• Avoid closed spaces with poor ventilation
• Avoid crowded places with many people nearby and close-contact settings like close-range conversations. 
• Wash hands with soap and water frequently and use hand sanitiser when handwashing facilities are not available
• Avoid shared lunch rooms and gatherings when unmasked. Your work place and colleagues are not in your bubbles.
• Masks must be worn indoors and outdoors where six feet of physical distancing is not possible.
• If you or anyone in your household is feeling ill, even slightly ill, stay home.
• If you test positive, you need to isolate, even if you have no symptoms.

Businesses should also be extremely vigilant and take appropriate precautions to protect their employees and patrons from contracting the coronavirus.

Each of us has a role to play in stopping the spread of the coronavirus. Please follow Public Health guidelines, and download the WeHealth Bermuda App.