Government

Good day to all members of the media and the listening public. 

As announced in November 2020, Bermuda’s Labour Code, which consists of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 2021 and the Employment Amendment (No2) Act 2021, will come into force on 1 June 2021. It will bring Bermuda in line with international best practices by strengthening the rights and obligations of employers and employees in Bermuda’s labour force, modernising and clarifying areas of the existing legislation, and revising the labour dispute mechanisms in Bermuda.

~ RSI growth in February 2021 is the 8^th consecutive month of increase ~

Today, the Minister for the Cabinet Office, the Hon. Wayne Furbert released the February 2021 Retail Sales, which indicated that the overall volume of local retail sales increased by 4.5%.

This compares to the previous year’s local retail sales which reported a volume increase of 2.2%.

The retail sales growth in February 2021 is the 8^th consecutive month of increase compared to the same month in 2020.

The Minister of Home Affairs, the Hon. Walter Roban has responded favourably to the Regulatory Authority’s (RA’s) announcement today that electricity retail rates will be reduced. He fully supports this announcement as this achieves the Government’s throne speech commitment to reduce electricity costs.

~ To date, more than 1,000 vaccinces given as part of the Close to Home mobile programme ~

The Ministry of Health received 946 test results since the last update, and four were positive for coronavirus, yielding a test positivity rate of 0.4 %. 

Three of the new cases are classified as local transmission with known contact as they are associated with known cases.

The additional new case is classified as under investigation. This case is a resident with no currently identified link to other known cases or history of travel in the past 14 days.

Additionally, since the last update, there were 16 recoveries and no deaths.

The Ministry of Labour wishes to remind the public of the requirements to obtain Bermudian status at birth by a child born to a person who possesses Bermudian status.

The Ministry can advise that currently, a child born outside Bermuda who is a commonwealth citizen will acquire Bermudian status at birth if the Bermudian parent was domiciled and Bermudian at the time of the child’s birth.

The Ministry of Transport can confirm that the pilot boat, St. David, was involved in a crash with a reef off of the Northeast Breaker Beacon on Thursday, May 6th, 2021 at 6:48am.

The St. David was on a training exercise en-route to the North Rock Beacon and had four crew on board.

The pilot boat, purchased in 2011 for $2,795,000.00 is insured for 2.8 million dollars.

The Minister of Education, the Hon. Diallo Rabain, JP, MP, has this afternoon released a statement regarding a power outage at Dalton E. Tucker Primary School.

Minister Rabain shared, “Unfortunately, around 12 noon today Dalton E Tucker Primary School experienced a power outage.”

“BELCO was immediately contacted to rectify the issue; however, the decision was made to close Dalton E Tucker for the remainder of the day. The decision was made in accordance with the Safety & Health Act that provides for a maximum of 2 hours for resolution in situations like this.”

Thank you, Minister Hayward, and Good morning Bermuda.

The Commission began its work in earnest last February in establishing a minimum wage in the first instance and a liveable wage, secondly, for Bermuda.

The Bermuda Nurses Association held a proclamation reading to celebrate International Nurses Day on the steps of City Hall today. With social distance restrictions in place, Her Excellency Governor Rena Lalgie, the Minister of Health Kim Wilson, JP, MP, and Councillor John Harvey joined members of the Bermuda Nurses Association to mark the occasion.

The Ministry of Health received 1229 test results since the last update, and six were positive for coronavirus, yielding a test positivity rate of 0.5 %. 

Four of the new cases are classified as local transmission with known contact as they are associated with known cases.

The additional two new cases are classified as under investigation. These cases are among residents with no currently identified link to other known cases or history of travel in the past 14 days.

Additionally, since the last update, there were 40 recoveries and no deaths.

The Department of Culture is reminding the public that registration is still open for this weekend’s Bermuda Cultural Stakeholder Conference.

Happening Sunday, May 16 at 11.00 am, the summit will be carried live via ZOOM, and is free to the public. 

Good morning and welcome to Severn Bridge in St. David’s.

I am joined today by MP Lovitta Foggo of Constituency 3 while the 3 remaining St. George’s MP’s – Minister Renee Ming – Constituency 1, Minister Tinee Furbert Constituency 4 and MP Kim Swan of Constituency 2 are unable to be here – as well as Mr. Andrew Dias, Interim CEO of BLDC, Mr. Stephen Tucker the project manager for the Water & Waste Water Master Plan and Ms. Tabia Butterfield of Crisson Construction.

The Ministry of Health received 706 test results since the last update, and four were positive for COVID-19, giving a test positivity rate of 0.6%. One of the new cases is classified as local transmission with known contact as they are associated with a known case.

The additional three new cases are classified as under investigation. These cases are among residents with no currently identified link to other known cases or history of travel in the past 14 days.

Additionally, since the last update, there were 12 recoveries and no deaths. 

The Ministry of Health received 3423 test results since the last update and 17 were positive for COVID-19, giving a test positivity rate of 0.5%. These results are from testing done on Thursday (five positive out of 1263 results – 0.4% positivity), Friday (three positive out of 1218 results – 0.2% positivity) and Saturday (nine positive out of 942 results – 1.0% positivity).

Today, Minister for the Cabinet Office the Hon. Wayne L. Furbert, JP, MP, released the February 2021 Consumer Price Index (CPI) report.

In February 2021 consumers paid 0.2 % more than they did in February 2020 for the basket of goods and services.

The Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sport announced today that as Bermuda enters Phase 2 of reopening, following the Stay at Home Order, sports will be permitted at Stage 2 of the Return to Play Guidance, effective today, 9^th May.

Stage 2 allows for team training within the requirements permitted by the Emergency Regulations:

The Ministry of Transport advises the public of reduced capacity on school buses effective Monday, 10 May 2021. 

The Ministry of Health COVID-19 guidance for school buses requires that students adopt 3 feet distancing on school buses while the country is in Phase 2.

As such, students that are not from the same household are not permitted to sit shoulder-to-shoulder until further notice. This applies to both DPT buses and minibuses and results in approximately 50% reduced capacity. Therefore, school buses can accommodate between 7 and 17 students, depending on the vehicle. 

“It is with a heavy heart that I report another coronavirus related death,” announced Minister of Health, the Hon. Kim Wilson, JP, MP. “Our hearts and prayers go out to the loved ones of the deceased during this difficult time.”

“This death brings the total number of coronavirus related deaths to 31. The Ministry of Health will not release any personal details about the individual, and I ask the public to respect the privacy of the family as they mourn their loved one.”

The next COVID-19 update will be on Monday, 10 May 2021.

Today Premier, the Hon. David Burt, JP, MP, Deputy Premier and Minister of Home Affairs, the Hon. Walter Roban, JP, MP and the Minister of Finance, the Hon. Curtis Dickinson, JP, MP visited the Mobile Vaccination Centre at National Sports Centre in Devonshire. 

Some 156 people showed up to get the COVID-19 vaccine. This brings to 627 the number of people who have used the mobile vaccination service.