Government

Good day, 

There were 2380 test results received by the Ministry of Health since the last update, and thirteen were positive for COVID-19. Ten of the new cases are classified as imported with details as follows:

Today, the Ministry of Public Works provided the following regarding Southlands Park in Warwick.

The public will be aware that recently the Department of Parks invited feedback regarding the offering of amenities, activities and experiences at Southlands Park. The Ministry took this opportunity to remind the public that the Southlands consultation process welcomes and encourages open dialogue.

The United Kingdom Overseas Territories Association held its Annual General Meeting on 14th January 2021. At the meeting, UK Representatives of the British Overseas Territory Governments elected Ms Kimberley Durrant, UK Representative of the Government of Bermuda London Office as its Chairman. According to the Association’s constitution, the Premier of Bermuda, the Hon E David Burt, JP, MP is the President of the Political Council. This will be the third time Bermuda has been afforded this role amongst OT Governments. 

The Department of Education has received notice from Cambridge International that 2021 exams scheduled for the March and June series will proceed.

This correspondence was sent to Cambridge’s global community of schools in response to the announcement by the UK Prime Minister regarding new national restrictions including the closure of schools and cancellation of most exams for June 2021.

The Minister of Social Development and Seniors, the Hon. Tinee Furbert, JP, MP, recently engaged virtually with leaders who represent the Third Sector.

The virtual meeting included representatives, Ms. Vivien Carter, Programme Officer for the Centennial Bermuda Foundation, Dr. Myra Virgil, CEO and Managing Director of the Bermuda Community Foundation, and Dr. Claudette Fleming, Executive Director of Age Concern and member of the Advisory Committee of the Nonprofit Alliance of Bermuda.

Good day, 

There were 643 test results received by the Ministry of Health since the last update, and three were positive for COVID-19. One of the new cases is classified as imported by a resident who arrived on AA 308 from Miami on 9 January 2021 and tested positive on their day four test. The second new case is classified as local transmission with known contact as they are associated with known cases.

The Minister of Home Affairs, the Hon. Walter Roban, JP, MP and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) are today issuing a public acknowledgement of the generous donations received from the public to assist with the seagrass restoration project.

DENR initiated a seagrass restoration project in June 2020 which involves placing large mesh restoration cages over seagrass areas struggling to survive. 

Attendees at ongoing Bermuda Public Schools Open House events are now required to register online as part of strengthened security protocols.

Due to incidents at two of the events, Commissioner of Education, Kalmar Richards has decided to institute a registration requirement. The registration links are the same as the links advertised to put questions in advance and following the events. 

Registration links are as follows:

Preschools Open House Events

Good day, 

There were 769 test results received by the Ministry of Health since the last update, and three were positive for COVID-19. One of the new cases is classified as imported by a resident who arrived on AC 1818 from Toronto on 8 January 2021 and tested positive on their day four test. The remaining new cases are classified as local transmission with known contact as they are associated with known cases.

Additionally, since the last update, five cases have recovered.

There are currently 84 active cases, of which;

The Department of Planning is pleased to announce the next phase of our file management system ‘Energov’. The Department successfully went live with the first phase of this paperless system in August 2019.

Director of Planning, Victoria Pereira said, “Energov has provided the Department with a platform to streamline many of our services and provide user-friendly options for customers.

Good day, 

Today, the Minister of National Security, the Hon. Renee Ming is reminding the community that the Royal Bermuda Regiment (RBR) is currently accepting applications for its upcoming recruit camp.

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.

A ministry spokesperson stated, “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 online.”

“Vaccinations are only given to residents who have a confirmed appointment and the Vaccination Centre is NOT OPEN to walk-in traffic.”

Good Evening Bermuda, I am pleased to share with you about how the COVID-19 vaccine works, how it was fast-tracked, and the first viral genome sequencing data.

As we all know, Bermuda’s COVID-19 vaccination program started yesterday, after vaccines arrived on island last Friday.

How the mRNA vaccine works

Good Evening Bermuda,

Apologies for the late start this evening. Yesterday, our island reached a significant milestone in our fight against the Coronavirus with the vaccination programme getting underway here in Bermuda.

The Minister of Health, the Hon. Kim Wilson, the Opposition Leader Mr. Cole Simons, the Government’s Science Advisor Dr. Carika Weldon, seniors, essential workers and I received our first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Good Afternoon,

There were 813 test results received by the Ministry of Health since the last update and five were positive for COVID-19. All of the new cases are classified as imported with details as follows:

§  1 resident who arrived on Delta 584 from Atlanta on 6 January 2021 and tested positive on their day 4 test

§  2 residents who arrived on Jet Blue 62231 from New York on 10 January 2021 and tested positive on their arrival test

§  2 residents who arrived on American Airlines 308 from Miami on 10 January 2021 and tested positive on their arrival test

The Ministry of Public Works reminds the public that Christmas tree collection will be held on Saturday January 16^th and Saturday January 23^rd.  

The public is advised to adhere to the following Christmas Tree collection schedule:

Today, the Minister of Labour released the following statement on the impact of two critical pieces of legislation to the Bermuda labour force:

• The Employment Amendment Act 2020; and
• The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 2020.

The overarching aim of the Ministry of Labour is the expansion of jobs within Bermuda. In order to ensure that this is achieved, the legislative framework in place must be up to date, comprehensive and fair.

The Minister of Education, the Hon. Diallo Rabain, JP MP has today provided an update on the plans for Education Reform, Virtual School Open Houses and school registration.  

Minister Rabain stated, “The Government is undertaking Education Reform, however, there will be no closure of any schools for September 2021 and preschool, primary, middle and senior school registration is scheduled for later this month and in early February. 

Good day, 

There were 1427 test results received by the Ministry of Health since the last update and four were positive for COVID-19.  Two of the new cases are classified as imported. One of the new imported cases is a non-resident who arrived on DL 584 from Atlanta on 4 January 2021, and tested positive on day four. The other new imported case is a resident who arrived on DL 617 from New York on 8 January 2021, and tested positive on their arrival test.

Editor admits error and has changed story online and will issue a correction in tomorrow’s printed edition

Good afternoon everyone and thank you for coming.

Many will all be aware that the public schools are scheduled to resume this week Wednesday, 13 January. 

In preparation for this, the Department of Public Transportation (DPT) has been working with the Bermuda Minibus Association (BMA) to arrange transportation for public school students.