The total number of cases of COVID-19 in Bermuda surpassed the 6,000 mark tonight, as the number of active cases, including the Omicron variant continued to surge.
Health officials reported two people were admitted in hospital with the virus, with 97 new cases recorded in the latest round of tests, taking the total number of active cases up to 234.
The good news, neither of the two patients in hospital are in intensive care.
Of the 234 active cases – 144, or 90 percent of them were identified as Omicron.
The remaining 16 cases were the Delta variant, which claimed the majority of lives lost to this virus to date.
A Ministry spokeswoman noted that “as Bermuda heads into the long holiday weekend the public is urged to please adhere to the current guidelines and requirements that are in place”.
“The public should note that the Omicron variant is rapidly spreading. The public cannot become complacent.
“Any regulations that are in place are there to protect and save lives,” she added.
“Please continue to wear your mask, wash your hands, keep physically distanced from others not in your household and add antigen tests to your pandemic toolbox before you socialise with your family and friends.”
Highlights:
Sixty-seven (67) of the new cases are classified as imported with history of travel in the previous 14 days.
The additional 30 new cases are classified as either local transmission (12) or under investigation (18).
Additionally, there were 15 recoveries and 0 deaths.
There are 234 active cases, of which:
- 232 are under public health monitoring; and
- Two (2) are in hospital with 0 in intensive care
Since March 2020, Bermuda has recorded 6,014 coronavirus cases, out of which 5,674 have recovered, and sadly there have been 106 coronavirus-related deaths.
The source of all active cases is as follows:
- 164 are Imported
- 43 are classified as local transmission
- 27 are Under Investigation
Active cases by vaccination status, transmission, and type:
- Imported cases: 94% are fully vaccinated and 6% are not fully vaccinated.
- Local/Under Investigation cases: 81% are fully vaccinated and 19% are not fully vaccinated.
- Of the 160 active cases where typing is available, 10% (16) are Delta, 90% (144) are Omicron.
The source of all confirmed cases is as follows:
- 891 are Imported
- 5,093 are classified as local transmission of which:
- 3,131 are Local transmission with known contact/source and
- 1,962 are Local transmission with an unknown contact/source
- 30 are Under Investigation
The Ministry of Health also provided an update on the current vaccination programme status.
The Ministry notes that 49 weeks of vaccinations have now been completed. Since January 11th, Bermuda’s residents have received a total of 112,695 vaccinations.
Of the 112,695 vaccinations given as of December 18:
- 52% are women and 48% are men
- 86.8% of all residents over the age of 65 years have had at least one vaccination; and
- 85.5% are fully immunized
To date, 72.3 percent of the population has been vaccinated (1 dose) and 70.9% of the population has been immunized (2 doses).
Additionally, 31.4% of the population have received a booster.
Lastly, as a reminder, the Ministry notes that as Bermuda heads into the long holiday weekend the public is urged to please adhere to the current guidelines and requirements that are in place. The public should note that the Omicron variant is rapidly spreading. The public cannot become complacent. And any regulations that are in place are there to protect and save lives. Please continue to wear your mask, wash your hands, keep physically distanced from others not in your household, and add antigen tests to your pandemic toolbox before you socialize with your family and friends.
