Twelve (12) new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the latest round of 1,397 test results received by the Ministry of Health since the last update, bringing the total number of active cases to 227.
Speaking at the Government briefing last night, Health Minister Kim Wilson said: “One of the new cases is classified as local transmission with known contact as associated with a known case.
“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, six (6) cases have recovered since the last update.
“Bermuda now has 497 total confirmed positive cases.”
Their status is as follows.
· There are 227 active cases, of which
· 224 are under public health monitoring and
· 3 are hospitalized with none in critical care
· a total of 261 have recovered, and
· the total deceased remains 9
The mean age of all the cases confirmed to date is 44 years (median: 40 years) and the age range is less than 1 year to 101 years.
For all the active cases, the mean age is 35 years (median: 31 years) and the age range is less than 5 years to 80 years.
“To protect privacy and confidentiality, the average age and age range of the hospitalized cases will not be provided,” said Ms Wilson.
“The average age of all deceased cases is 74 years and the age range is 57 to 91 years.”
The source of all cases is as follows:
· 140 are Imported
· 269 are classified as local transmission of which
· 248 are Local transmission, with known contact/source and
· 21 are Local transmission with an unknown contact/source
· 88 are Under Investigation
“As investigations proceed, transmission categories may change,” the Minister added.
The Ministry “has one case moving from under investigation to imported”.
“This case is a resident who arrived on AC 942 from Toronto on 4 December 2020 and tested positive on their Day 8 test.
“An additional case has moved from under investigation to local transmission with a known contact as associated with a known case,” said Ms Wilson.
“The seven-day average of our real time reproduction number is greater than 1 (1.67) and Bermuda’s current country status is ‘Clusters of Cases’.”
The Minister also noted that the Mental Health hotline has “received many calls” asking: “What are the symptoms?”
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the most common symptoms of COVID-19 are:
· Fever
· Dry cough
· Fatigue
Other symptoms that are less common and may affect some persons include:
· Loss of taste or smell
· Nasal congestion
· Conjunctivitis (also known as red eyes)
· Sore throat
· Headache
· Muscle or joint pain
· Different types of skin rash
· Nausea or vomiting
· Diarrhoea
· Chills or dizziness
“Generally, anyone with three or more of these symptoms should please isolate and call your doctor who can advise you regarding resting. Likewise if your physician advises you that you are positive, isolate and prepare a list of your close contacts for ESU,” said the Minister.
“Since early on in this pandemic our care homes have been working hard to keep our elders and vulnerable persons safe. Shielding requirements resulted in a restriction preventing staff from working at multiple homes. This vital intervention has remained in place; however, in part due to this, homes are struggling to find qualified staff. In particular, registered Nursing Associates and Registered Nurses are needed by many homes. We are trying to assist the homes in their ongoing search for staff.”
For this purpose:
1. If you are a registered Nursing Associate or Registered Nurse and have interest or experience in care home work, please email your resume to covid19resumes@gov.bm .
2. Please note, anyone who sends a resume to this address, starting tomorrow, will have their resume shared with and forwarded to care homes, as appropriate. If you don’t want your resume forwarded to care homes you must state this when you email it.
“Please note COVID19resumes@gov.bm remains the location to send your resume for the government’s COVID-19 related staffing needs,” the Minister added.
“At this time, we are appealing to family and friends of care home residents to work with the homes to find creative ways to maintain connection with their loved ones while visiting restrictions are in place.
“Please remember that the scheduling, frequency and type of visits possible are not only set by Government guidance and restrictions but also by the homes’ ability to accommodate such, which includes having sufficient staffing levels.”
