Ministry of Health COVID-19 Update
Wednesday, January 13th, 2021
There were 966 test results received by the Ministry of Health since the last update, and three were positive for COVID-19. All three of the new cases are classified as imported. One of the new imported cases is a resident who arrived on AA308 from Miami on 7 January 2021 and tested positive on their day four test. The second imported case is a resident who arrived on BA 2233 from London on 10 January 2021 and tested positive on their arrival test. The third new imported case is a resident who arrived on S46227 from the Azores on 11 January 2021 and tested positive on their arrival test.
Additionally, since the last update, eight cases have recovered.
There are currently 86 active cases, of which;
• 79 are under public health monitoring and
• 7 are in hospital with 1 in critical care;
Since March 2020, Bermuda has recorded 664 total confirmed cases of COVID-19; out of those, 566 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 45 years (median: 45 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 57 years (median: 54 years), and the ages range from 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 75 years (median: 77 years), and the ages range from 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:
• 182 are imported
• 452 are classified as local transmission of which:
• 385 are local transmission with known contact/source, and
• 67 are local transmission with an unknown contact/source
• 30 are under investigation
As investigations proceed, transmission categories may change. Today’s update has seven 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 1 (0.61) and Bermuda’s current country status remains “Clusters of Cases”.
The Ministry of Health has been informed that there are social media posts currently circulating with misinformation about the Vaccination Centre accepting walk-ins for the COVID-19 vaccine.
The Minister of Health, the Hon Kim N. Wilson, refuted this saying: “This is absolutely not true. Vaccinations are being given in accordance with the ministry’s Vaccine Allocation Strategy, which has been shared with the media, and posted on-line.”
“Vaccinations are only given to residents who have a confirmed appointment, and the Vaccination Centre is NOT OPEN to walk-in traffic.”
“If you are interested in registering for the vaccine, fill out the convenient on-line form at https://forms.gov.bm/covidvaccine. For more information on the COVID-19 vaccination programme, and the priority scheduling for the first batch of the vaccine, please visit www.gov.bm/vaccines.”
Additionally, the Minister has been asked by the media to provide detailed data on the vaccination process and priority groups. Minister Wilson stated: “The primary focus of the Vaccination Centre team is to ensure everyone, who has an appointment, receives a vaccination. After two days in operation, the Ministry of Health can provide limited statistics, which have already been given. In the coming days, and as processes become more routine, additional statistics will be provided. While getting information to the public is always a priority, we ask for patience as we gather the data that has been requested.”
The Minister of Health is also encouraging everyone to join the Bermuda Tourism Authority’s free, open-to-all webinar on Friday, 15 January from 3:30pm to 4:45pm. This webinar will help Bermuda residents access COVID-19 testing before they return home from the United States, and will make travelling safely and responsibly a little easier. Dr. Carika Weldon will be on the panel and will speak to the issue of Bermuda’s outbound passengers who will require negative pre-travel tests in order to return to the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.