There were 518 test results received today and none were positive for COVID-19, so the total of confirmed positive cases remain at 153, with 7 cases being active.
A Government spokesperson said, “Today there were 518 test results received by the Ministry of Health, and none were positive for COVID-19.
The Minister of Health Kim Wilson said, “Today I can also confirm that 7 of the 11 pending results are confirmed to not have been cases. Affected individuals have been informed and released from isolation and quarantine. Four possible cases remain under investigation.
“I have to applaud the Public Health Emergency Response Team at the Ministry of Health together with the Bermuda Hospitals Board, who took immediate action to identify and isolate all persons immediately as soon as the potential cases became known. Not only is our testing regime exceedingly rigorous, but our ability to rapidly take public health action to isolate cases and prevent spread truly showed its muster with this near-miss incident.
“I realize some persons may be wondering why these cases were held as pending for a few days. I can assure you that this is simply part of stringent protocols to control COVID-19. As part of routine quality control measures, results are considered in terms of the present medical history and epidemiological pattern and, if there is any doubt, we isolate and re-test.
“Our regime uses highly sensitive tests which can pick up transient positives in asymptomatic individuals. These may have a viral load that is sufficient to be detected but warrants further investigation. Upon the re-testing of these cases, originally flagged as positive, we were able to confirm that these persons were not active carriers of the virus.”
“I am pleased that all precautionary measures were taken swiftly. While I understand the distress this caused individuals who had to be isolated, it is better than the alternative – having potentially positive persons freely interacting with others inadvertently spreading COVID in the community. This incident is a testament to the rigour of our testing system and the efficiency of our public health capacity.”
“Bermuda has 153 total confirmed positive cases. Their status is as follows:
- there are 7 active cases, who are
- all under active public health monitoring, and
- none is hospitalized or in critical care;
- a total of 137 have recovered,
- the total deceased remains 9, and
- 4 results are pending confirmation
“The average age of all of our confirmed positive cases is 59 and the age range of all of our positive cases is from 18 to 101 years.
“The average age of all deceased cases is 74 and the age range is 57 to 91 years.
“The source of all local cases is as follows:
- 49 are Imported
- 85 are Local transmission, with known contact
- 19 are Local transmission with an unknown contact, and
- none are under investigation
“Bermuda’s country status is “Sporadic Cases”. The seven-day average of our real time reproduction number is below 1.“
