Government

The Ministry of Health advises that effective immediately, mandatory quarantine will no longer be required for contacts of a positive case if persons are not experiencing COVID symptoms and your last vaccine dose (2nd dose or booster dose) was received within the last 6 months. However, it is strongly recommended that daily antigen tests be taken for self-monitoring during the seven days after close contact, especially if you will be entering a workplace setting or place where you will be in contact with others outside of your household.

The Department of Public Transportation (DPT) is advising passengers that due to a recent increase in staff absences, as of Monday, January 17th and until further notice all bus routes will operate on an enhanced Sunday schedule, seven days a week. For more information visit gov.bm/bus or call 292-3851.

Taxpayers are reminded that Payroll Tax and Corporate Service Tax Returns for the quarter ending December 31 2021 are due on or before Monday, January 17 2022.

Hotel Occupancy Tax Returns for the month ending December 31 2021, are also due on or before Monday, January 17 2022. Financial Services Tax Returns for the quarter ending December 31 2021, are due on or before Monday, January 31 2022. 

Full payment must accompany all returns otherwise penalties will apply. Please use 2021/22 tax rates.

The Department of Education today informed the public of registration procedures for the school year 2022/23.

The Department of Education will be utilizing the PowerSchool Online Enrolment which is a secure platform that allows parents/guardians to securely enter their child’s information into an online database.

The online registration process will require both new and current parents to create an account.  This allows you to securely save your work and come back at a later time if necessary.

Good afternoon.
 amendments to the Quarantine (COVID-19) (No. 3) Order 2020 will be made
 effective January 20,2022. These changes will further streamline our quarantine and testing
 guidelines.

 The current requirement for non-immunised persons who must quarantine or isolate is for a period of 14 days, and they must book and get a verified PCR to test out of quarantine/isolation.

This requirement will change as they must now quarantine or isolate for only 10 days and test out on a verified antigen test after 10 days.

Since the last update, the Ministry of Health received8,103 test results, and 661 were positive for COVID-19.

These results are from testing done on:

·Friday: 205 positive out of 2160 results (9.5% positivity)

·Saturday: 98 positive out of 1751 results (5.6% positivity)

·Sunday: 100 positive out of 1639 results (6.1% positivity)

·Monday: 258 positive out of 2553 results (10.1% positivity)

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

Good Afternoon Members of the Media, and the Bermuda Public.

Thank you, Minister of Health, for your update.

This last wave of the Coronavirus has again disrupted our day to day activities. I can say first-hand, as a parent, getting my child back to school has not been the easiest of processes. We have had to consider testing regimes, remote learning, and, in some cases, the challenges of being in quarantine. This current spike has not made engaging in learning the most manageable situation for any parent.

Following a meeting today with the Senior Command of the Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service, the Minister of National Security, Renee Ming, said, “I would like to update the public on the current status of the Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service, but first I want to express my gratitude for their tireless work during this most recent outbreak and indeed throughout the pandemic.”
 
The Minister added, “I can report that The BF&RS’s current staffing situation, while unfortunate, is not dissimilar to what is being experienced community-wide in both the public and private sector. 

“Bermuda is gaining momentum..” said Premier David Burt as he outlined the activity noted in Bermuda’s fintech sector. “Of the ten licensed digital asset business entities, six were licensed in 2021, including a digital asset insurer that is a digital asset smart contract powered platform that allows insurance entities to create fully-collateralised, fully digital, transparent, trustless and tradable reinsurance contracts.

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.