“Sadly, Bermuda has had another coronavirus related death,” said Minister of Health, Kim Wilson, JP, MP. “My heartfelt condolences go out to the family and friends of the deceased.”

Since the last update, the Ministry of Health received 3674 test results, and 123 were positive for the coronavirus, giving a test positivity rate of 3.3%.

These results are from testing done on:

·Sunday: 10 positive out of 619 results (1.6% positivity)

·Monday: 67 positive out of 1329 results (5.0% positivity)

•        Tuesday: 46 positive out of 1726 results (2.7% positivity)

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

The additional 118 new cases are classified as either local transmission (41) or under investigation (77). 

Additionally, there were 157 recoveries.

There are 277 active cases, of which:

·266 are under public health monitoring; and

·11 are in hospital, with 1 in intensive care.

Since March 2020, Bermuda has recorded 12354 coronavirus cases, out of which 11950 have recovered, and sadly there have been 127 coronavirus-related deaths.

The source of all active cases is as follows:

·17 are Imported

·121 are classified as local transmission

·139 are Under Investigation

The source of all confirmed cases is as follows:

·2333 are Imported

·9615 are classified as local transmission of which:

o   4439 are Local transmission with known contact/source and

o   5176 are Local transmission with an unknown contact/source

·406 are Under Investigation

As investigations proceed, transmission categories may change. For age distributions and overall transmission categories, please refer to https://www.gov.bm/coronavirus-covid19-update. The seven-day average of our real-time reproduction number is .94.

 Since January 11, 2021, Bermuda residents have received a total of 127,090 vaccinations.

 Of the 127,090 vaccinations given as of March 19, 2022:

·52% are women and,

·48% are men

87.0% of all residents over the age of 65 years have had at least one vaccination, and 85.7% are fully immunised.

 To date, 75.2% of the population has been vaccinated (1 dose), and 72.9% of the population has been immunised (2 doses).

 Additionally, 72.2% of those eligible for a booster have received their booster.

“Living safely with COVID requires us to look out for our safety and to care about the safety of others, especially our vulnerable persons,” said Minister of Health, Kim Wilson, JP, MP. “There are far too many positive cases in our community, and we have increased hospitalisations. It also saddens me that there are coronavirus related deaths every week. Please practice healthy behaviours and consider the safety of yourself and others.

“As a reminder, the fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine is now available for persons who had their third dose more than five months ago and are immunosuppressing conditions, older than 65 or residents of residential care homes.

“The fourth dose booster will be available by appointment at Pier 6 on March 24 and March 25, 2022, then walk-ins from Monday, March 28, to March 31, 2022, between 12 noon and 5.30 pm. 

“Anyone wishing a booster vaccine can book an appointment on www.gov.bm by selecting “Book a Booster Vaccine Appointment.” They may also call the Vaccination Hotline at 444-2498 (option #2) or e-mailvaccine@gov.bm.”

Minister Wilson added: “Please remember that living safely with COVID means we must continue to follow public health guidance. Keep a safe distance from others in public, wear a mask, and avoid closed spaces, crowded places and close contact settings. Practice good hand hygiene, have proper ventilation indoors, take an at-home antigen test before going to events and socialising, and get vaccinated and boosted.”