Government

Her Majesty, The Queen, has recognized the following Bermudians in her annual New Year’s Honours List:

Queen’s Certificate & Badge of Honour:

Ø  Meredith Andrews for services to the environment.

Ø  Nikita Robinson for services to the community in broadcasting.

Good afternoon everyone and good afternoon to members of the media who are here for today’s press conference.

I am Walter Roban the Acting Premier, sitting in for the Premier David Burt who is currently taking a well-deserved break.

I am joined today by the Minister of Health, the Hon. Kim Wilson and the Minister of National Security, the Hon. Renee Ming.

Good Afternoon Bermuda, 

I hope you all managed to find your own way to make Christmas feel special this year.

This weekend I was saddened to confirm that Bermuda had experienced our tenth COVID-19-related death.

I know that the loss of another ‘one of our own’ to COVID-19 came as devastating news to our entire community over the Holiday Weekend, and our hearts go out to the loved ones of the deceased during this extremely difficult time.

I will now provide today’s daily statistics…

Good evening Bermuda,

This evening, I will address occurrences during the Christmas holiday and emphasize our need to continue to act responsibly during the looming New Year’s celebrations.

First, I wish to thank all of Bermuda for making responsible decisions and taking the necessary precautions to protect them and their families. Generally, we had a relatively peaceful holiday period.

This is a testament to our residents who adhered to the health guidelines and advisories which encouraged people to celebrate in small bubbles this holiday season.

Bermuda’s gombey troupes have worked with Government to agree on a plan to provide their traditional performances in a non-traditional way on New Year’s Day, in order to keep the public safe from the spread of Covid-19.

The troupes have agreed to forego their usual large performances in public places or marching along public roads where crowds will gather and follow.  Instead, they will offer short, physically-distanced pop-up performances in various small neighbourhoods throughout New Year’s Day.

Good Day Members of the Media,

There were 2805 test results received by the Ministry of Health since the last update and 14 were positive for COVID-19. 

Six of the new cases are classified as imported with details as follows:

Today the Minister of National Security, the Hon. Renee Ming expressed concern about last night’s shooting and offered the following.

Minister Ming said, “Regrettably our holiday was marred by a firearms incident. Thankfully the injuries weren’t life threatening. However it is still extremely concerning that the peace of the holiday was disturbed in this way. I have been updated about the matter by the Bermuda Police Service, and last evening on behalf of the Gang Violence Reduction Team (GVRT), Pastor Leroy Bean visited the hospital to check on the victim and his family. 

The Ministry of Health is saddened to confirm that, regrettably, Bermuda has experienced a COVID-19-related death today. This now takes the total number of COVID-19 deaths to ten.

Today, the Acting Premier, the Hon. Walter Roban, JP, MP, wishes to extend a full apology on behalf of the Government to Bermuda’s Gombey Troupes, following an inadvertent miscommunication regarding holiday performances.

The Acting Premier said, “Today we had a very fruitful discussion with our Gombey leaders and we’re grateful they took the time to meet with us. We appreciate comments earlier this week contributed to unanticipated confusion for the troupes and members of the community. 

Good Day, 

There were 1187 test results received by the Ministry of Health since the last update and eight were positive for COVID-19. 

Three of the new cases are classified as local transmission with known contact/source as associated with known cases/clusters.

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

Additionally, 17 cases have recovered since the last update.

The Department of Works and Engineering’s Waste Management Section advises the public that due toongoing delays in household waste collection, please note the following service updates.

Yesterday’s collection of both Wednesday’s and Thursday’s waste will be completed today.

We started 2020 with worrying news. News of people we did not know; suffering in cities most of us had never heard of. When sometimes it seems like there is so much going wrong in the world, speaking personally, it can be all too easy to disengage. If there is one thing that 2020 has taught us, it is just how connected we all are and just how much we benefit from those connections. 

Earlier this week, the Minister of Youth, Culture and Sports, Dr. the Hon. Ernest Peets, JP, visited the newly refurbished basketball courts at Shelly Bay and Olive Bank, also know as the Jones’ Village Community Field.

Minister Peets commended the collaboration between the Department of Youth Sports and Recreation and the MoonGate Group for making the project a reality. 

Good Day Members of the Media,

There were 1257 test results received by the Ministry of Health since the last update and none were positive for COVID-19. 

30 cases have recovered since the last update.

Bermuda continues to have 553 total confirmed positive cases. Their status is as follows.

The Minister of Health the Hon. Kim Wilson JP MP today issued the following statement:

Good Evening Bermuda: 

Last week Friday, the impact of the island-wide outage went far beyond the loss of electricity. Government is aware and sensitive to the fact that many businesses lost revenue as a result of their forced closure which also had an adverse effect on their staff who would have also lost wages as well.  

This unforeseen occurrence has undoubtedly added to the current hardships being experienced by all residents, businesses and employees, due to the pandemic. The Government empathizes with all who were affected.

Good Afternoon,

There were 1000 test results received by the Ministry of Health since the last update and six were positive for COVID-19. 

Three of the new cases are classified as imported – all were residents with pre-arrival tests who arrived on BA2233 from London on 16 December 2020 and testing positive on their day 4 test.

One of the new cases is classified as local transmission with known contact/source as associated with a known case. 

Good evening Bermuda, and welcome members of the media.

I am joined today by the Minister of Health, the Hon. Kim Wilson, Deputy Premier and Minister of Home Affairs, the Hon. Walter Roban and the Minister of National Security, the Hon. Renee Ming. My colleagues will provide an update from their respective ministries. Following that, I will give an update on matters related to the coronavirus.

Minister of Health.

Thank you Premier. 

This evening, I will touch on matters to do with the Department of Corrections, the Bermuda Police Service, the Royal Bermuda Regiment, the Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service, and the Customs Department. 

First and foremost I wish to extend my appreciation to all of our officers in these Departments, as well as to the Disaster Risk Reduction Mitigation (DRRM) Team, who under very strained conditions ensured that our emergency services continued operating during the island-wide blackout last Friday.

The Ministry of Public Works wishes to inform the public that the ongoing embankment repair works on Harbour Road in the vicinity of Burnt House Hill and Tamarind Vale will be extended into the New Year – January 29^th, 2021.

The lane closure will be extended through to Friday – January 29^th, 2021.  Working hours will continue from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm week days.

Traffic controls will be under direction of the Ministry of Public Works representatives and will be managed through traffic control signals & signage.

There were 3008 test results received by the Ministry of Health over the weekend and 20 were positive for COVID-19. 

Seven of the new cases are classified as local transmission with known contact/source as associated with known cases/clusters.

The remaining new cases are classified as under investigation. These cases are among residents with no currently identified links to other known cases or clusters or history of travel in the past 14 days. Additionally, 11 cases have recovered since the last update.

In view of the U.K. Government announcement on Tier 4 and specifically relating to Bermudians in the U.K. involving their travel, the London Office is advising as below.

The Minister of Education, the Hon. Diallo Rabain, JP, MP met with the Education Emergency Measures Committee (EEMC) to review plans for reopening public schools in the New Year.

Following the meeting, the EEMC agreed to commence term two remotely. 

The Department of Parks reminds the public that access to the new Railway Trail Bridge over Flatt’s Inlet remains off-limits to the general public as the area is a construction site and installation of the bridge is not complete.

The Friends of the Bermuda Railway Trail have erected scaffolding to access the bridge and install the bridge deck planks. This access is restricted to the site volunteers and workers ONLY.

Three of Bermuda’s pioneering artists will be recognized for their body of work when they will be presented with the Bermuda Arts Council Awards 2020 this weekend.

The Awards will be broadcast on CITV (One ch. 2 / WOW ch. 102) this evening, Sunday, December 20 at 6.00 p.m.

Last week, (December 15), the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs hosted the 2020 Holiday Heartbeats Concert, which took place on the steps of City Hall.

The event featured musical performances by local performing artists and brought the cheer of holiday music to the City of Hamilton. Recognising the Covid-19 pandemic and necessary restrictions, all public health protocols were maintained to ensure a safe, yet joyous occasion could take place and fill the air with seasonal music during the lunch hour.

Good evening, 

There were 1374 test results received by the Ministry of Health since the last update and 11 were positive for COVID-19. 

Three of the new cases are classified as imported. This includes one resident and two non-residents who arrived on BA 2233 from London on the 13 December 2020 and tested positive on their day 4 test

Three of the new cases are classified as local transmission with known contact/source as associated with a known cases/clusters.

Today, the Minister of Education, Hon Diallo Rabain, JP, MP officially launched a consultation on the introduction of parish primary schools.

Minister Rabain explained, “In response to community calls for change in education, the Government of Bermuda has developed a profound and powerful vision and plan to change education.  These efforts are holistic in nature.  Therefore as a community, we must also consider taking a different approach to primary school education and how primary schools are organized.”

Good evening.

There were 1271 test results received by the Ministry of Health since the last update and 19 were positive for COVID-19. 

One of the new cases is classified as imported – a resident who arrived on DL 617 from Atlanta on 16 December 2020 and tested positive on their arrival test

Nine of the new cases are classified as local transmission with known contact/source as associated with a known cases/clusters.