Government

Good Afternoon and Welcome to the media,

On behalf of the BRSC, I would like to take this opportunity to offer condolences to the families of both road traffic victims this year.

Good Morning and Welcome,

This morning I will provide an update on the following topics:

• Consultation on the Proposal for the Introduction of Parish Primary Schools

• Public and parish consultation meetings 

• Ministry of Education 2021 scholarship and awards.

Good Evening Bermuda,

Last week the Government was pleased to announce the beginning of our vaccination programme, with the Ministry of Health beginning distribution of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Monday, January 11 th to elderly residents 80 years and over, the clinically vulnerable, frontline healthcare workers and essential workers such as police officers, teachers, and others.

Good afternoon and thank you for joining us.

Today, I will cover two areas in my remarks; the Pre-Budget Report and the Fiscal Responsibility Panel 2020 Annual Assessment.

This past year has been challenging, to say the least. The COVID-19 pandemic brought an unprecedented level of economic hardship for Bermuda and its people and caused a significant decline in Government revenues. 

The Pre-Budget Report

Good afternoon.

There were 657 test results received by the Ministry of Health since the last update and 1 was positive for COVID-19. 

The new case is classified as imported with details as follows:

• 1 resident who arrived on AA 308 from Miami on 17 January 2021 and tested positive on their arrival test

There have also been 5 recoveries.

Bermuda now has 684 total confirmed positive cases. Their status is as follows.

There are 69 active cases, of which

§  63 are under public health monitoring and

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.”