Government

The Department of Workforce Development invites college and university students to apply for the 2022 Summer Employment Programme.  

Internship applicants must hold Bermudian status and be enrolled full time at an accredited college or university with a minimum GPA of 2.5.

I am grateful to be back in the office after Kristin, Nia, Ed and I spent time with our family in California that we have not seen in two years. As we all know Christmas is for children, and for Kristin and me it was a joy to see Nia and Ed playing with their cousins who are now old enough to play and to see them interact with the cousins that they met for the first time. 

I am thankful for the Hon. Walter Roban and the Hon. Diallo Rabain for covering whilst I was on a family vacation

The Minister of Labour, the Hon. Jason Hayward, JP, MP, is pleased to share with the people of Bermuda the attached document entitled, “The Ministry of Labour Year End Review 2021“. 

The Ministry of Education wishes to advise the public that the 2022 Bermuda Scholarship Applications are now live.

Students are encouraged to go to the link and fill in their information as early as possible.

The Department of Education would like to advise parents and guardians of Bermuda’s public schools that re-testing will begin this week.

Preschool children who require re-testing for in-class learning will need to be re-tested tomorrow, January 10, 2022, and information regarding the testing schedule will be shared directly with the parents/guardians.

The Department anticipates re-testing Primary School students on Wednesday, January 12th and Thursday, January 13th.

Since the last update, the Ministry of Health received 7,125 test results, and 689 were positive for the coronavirus.

These results are from testing done on:

§  Tuesday: 204 positive out of 2372 results (8.6% positivity)

§  Wednesday: 243 positive out of 2305 results (10.5% positivity)

§  Thursday: 242 positive out of 2448 results (9.9% positivity)

189 of the new cases are classified as imported with a history of travel in the previous 14 days.

The Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation (DYSR) advises parents and guardians the After School Programmes and After School Clubs resume full services today, Monday, 10 January 2022.

The Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation is committed to providing the safest environment with programme workers participating in precautionary antigen testing twice weekly. The Department appreciates the cooperation of our staff and looks forward to their return to programme sites;

East End Primary

St. George’s Prep

St. David’s Primary

Francis Patton Primary

The Department of Education wishes to advise the public of the following schools that will be opening on Monday, January 10^th, 2022.

Preschools

All preschools are open for all students:

·St. George’s Preschool

·Lyceum Preschool

·Devonshire Preschool

·Prospect Preschool

·St. Paul’s Preschool

·Warwick Preschool

·Southampton Preschool

·Lagoon Park Preschool

·Victor Scott Preschool

·St. David’s PreschooL

The Department of Education wishes to advise the public of the following schools that will be opening on Monday, January 10^th, 2022.

Preschools

All preschools are open for all students:

·St. George’s Preschool

·Lyceum Preschool

·Devonshire Preschool

·Prospect Preschool

·St. Paul’s Preschool

·Warwick Preschool

·Southampton Preschool

·Lagoon Park Preschool

·Victor Scott Preschool

·St. David’s PreschooL

The Ministry of Education has responded this evening following the statement issued by the Bermuda Union of Teachers today (Friday, 7th January 2022).

The Ministry confirms that it has met with the BUT today to discuss Bermuda’s public schools’ reopening and is aware of the BUT’s concerns shared in their press statement today.

The BUT has raised several points that the Ministry explained and clarified with all parties agreeing that the priority is to ensure safe resumption of services to students.

The Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation (DYSR) advises parents and guardians that there will be a delay in the After School Programme and After School Club services due to Covid-19 related staff shortages and pending test results. 

The Department is doing everything possible to ensure DYSR services can resume in full on Monday, 10 January 2022. The Department will provide a further update over the weekend.

As it stands currently:

 Schools that have gone back in and after-care service will be suspended today, Friday 7 January:

The Cabinet Office advised today that Dr. Carika Weldon has resigned and given notice of her intention to end her tenure as Science Advisor & Laboratory Director of MDL. Dr. Weldon’s last day of work will be January 31, 2022. 

Dr. Weldon commented, “I really appreciate the experience and opportunities I have gained while working in this role. And my successor will be fortunate to be a member of the team.”

Since the last update, the Ministry of Health received 4,247 test results and 255 were positive for the coronavirus.

These results are from testing completed on:

• Sunday, January 2: 75 positive out of 1915 results (3.9% positivity)
• Monday, January 3: 180 positive out of 2332 results (7.7% positivity)

The Ministry notes that 125 of the new cases are classified as imported with history of travel in the previous 14 days.

The additional 130 new cases are classified as either local transmission (10) or under investigation (120).

The Department of Education would like to provide an update on school openings on Friday, January 7th, 2022.

Preschools

Open for all students:

·St. George’s Preschool

·Lyceum Preschool

·Devonshire Preschool

·Prospect Preschool

·St. Paul’s Preschool

·Warwick Preschool

·Southampton Preschool

·Lagoon Park Preschool

·Victor Scott Preschool

Not open:

·St. David’s Preschool

Primary Schools

Open for all students:

The Department of Culture invites writers to celebrate the New Year by giving voice to Bermuda’s stories.

In recognition of the 15th Bermuda Biennial, the Bermuda National Gallery (BNG) is inviting writers to submit poetry for the first time. The Department of Culture is partnering with the BNG to hold a series of workshops for writers –whether fresh to poetry or accomplished poets– to create new works for the Biennial.

To meet the testing demand, the Ministry of Health advised that starting tomorrow, (January 6, 2022), all outbound travellers (visitors and residents) who require an antigen test 24-hours before their departure from Bermuda, will now be tested at a Washington Mall location.

This new testing site, located at 16 Church Street, Hamilton, will be open from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm each day.

The Department of Education is providing parents and the public with a second update on school openings. As of 3:00 pm today, the following schools have been confirmed to open:

Preschools

Nine out of ten preschools will be fully or partially open for students as of tomorrow, the 6th January, 2022.

The following eight preschools will be fully open:

The Ministry and Department of Education advises parents and guardians that there will be a staggered opening of schools for Term 2.

We are pleased to report that an overwhelming majority of staff participated in PCR testing in preparation for the return to work on the 4^th January, 2022; however, we still have staff who are waiting to receive their test results.

Since the last update, the Ministry of Health received9,532 test results and 516 were positive for COVID-19.

These results are from testing completed between December 29, 2021 and January 1, 2022 inclusive:

Today, (4th January 2022), Minister of Social Development and Seniors, the Hon Tinee Furbert, JP MP, released a media statement celebrating World Braille Day 2022.

“As the Minister for Social Development & Seniors, I take this opportunity to highlight persons in our community who are blind or have visual impairments on World Braille Day, celebrated annually on 4th January.

The Ministry of Health today confirmed that increased wait times for the return of results is as a direct result of the significant increase positive cases.

A Ministry spokesperson advised that the highly contagious Omicron variant has led to a significant increase in positive pools of samples. These samples must be run twice to ensure accuracy. This takes time and as a result there has been a delay with the results.

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

Dame Commander of the British Empire:

 • Ms. Flora Duffy OBE – for services to Sport in Bermuda.

Member of the Order of the British Empire:

 • Dr. Joseph Froncioni – for services to Road Safety in Bermuda.

Queen’s Certificate & Badge of Honour:

 • Mrs. Erica Smith – for services to the community.
 • Mr. Owen Ellsworth Simons – for services to music education.