The Ministry of Health is “seeking assistance from members of the public regarding potential Covid-19 exposures at three locations on the weekend of November 27th/28th” – with the Ministry saying the three locations are Southampton Rangers, Flanagan’s Outback Sports Bar, and FryDay’s Trampoline Park.
The Ministry said they are “issuing the advisory as the most expedient way to contact all those individuals who may have attended these events.”
In addition, the Premier released a separate statement, saying, “In the coming days, I expect the number of confirmed cases to increase” and he asked that everyone “cooperate with contact tracers and get tested if you have been contacted or may be at risk of exposure.”
“Soldiers from the Royal Bermuda Regiment will be supplementing the efforts of the Health team to facilitate even more wide-scale screening for the coronavirus including at our schools and other essential services,” the Premier added.
18 New Cases Announced Today, 306 Total To Date, 75 Active
The amount of confirmed Covid-19 cases has been increasing in recent weeks, with the Government already announcing over 40 new confirmed cases during the first week of this month, and an animation showing the new cases announced each day so far this month is below. We currently have 75 active cases, which is the highest Bermuda has ever had, exceeding the old total of active cases back in April.
Health Ministry’s Statement
A spokesperson said, “The Ministry of Health is seeking assistance from members of the public regarding potential Covid-19 exposures at three locations on the weekend of November 27th/28th.
“Individuals associated with the following three events and locations have tested positive for Covid-19:
- Southampton Rangers S.C. – on the 27th and the 29th November;
- Flanagan’s Outback Sports Bar – on 28th November;
- FryDay’s Trampoline Park – on 28th November between 11am and 9pm.
“If you attended any of these locations on these specific dates, please call the Covid-19 hotline at 444-2498 between 8am and 10pm to arrange Covid-19 testing on Thursday, 10th December 2020 between 11am and 5pm.
“In the meantime, we are advising individuals who attended these locations, on these specific days to quarantine from others outside of their household until they are advised by the Ministry of Health. In the case of children their primary caregiver should also quarantine.
“We would not normally issue this information in the public domain however; our contact tracers have not received adequate contact tracing information from these locations. The Ministry of Health is issuing the advisory as the most expedient way to contact all those individuals who may have attended these events.”
At least one of those locations has issued a statement, with Southampton Rangers releasing a statement via social media this past weekend.
Premier’s Statement
In a separate statement, Premier David Burt said, “I must first thank everyone in the Ministry of Health for their outstanding work. They have worked long hours and weekends for many months now. As a country, we owe them our sincere appreciation.
“The Government is concerned about the increase in the number of confirmed cases of people with the coronavirus, that is the reason that we took the actions announced last night.
“Bermuda has the testing capacity that far exceeds other countries on a per capita basis. The fact that we are catching so many cases is unfortunate, but I am grateful to our teams who have built out our testing infrastructure to enable us to test and isolate cases so they do not infect others.
“In the coming days, I expect the number of confirmed cases to increase; such is the scale of this outbreak linked to a few super-spreading events. I ask all persons to cooperate with contact tracers and get tested if you have been contacted or may be at risk of exposure.
“Soldiers from the Royal Bermuda Regiment will be supplementing the efforts of the Health team to facilitate even more wide-scale screening for the coronavirus including at our schools and other essential services.
“The most important thing for all residents at this time is to work together to stop the spread of the virus by obeying the rules that have been laid out by the Government. These simple measures will help us reduce the spread.”
The Premier concluded, “At my press conference tomorrow I will be outlining further steps the Government is taking and also how affected persons and businesses can apply for assistance.
“Some of the measures that may be imposed are preventative in nature and while they may not be immediately related to current clusters, they will be designed to protect the most vulnerable of our citizens and to likewise minimize the risk of further spread.
“This setback in our Covid battle is unfortunate, however, I have confidence in the people of Bermuda supporting our teams at the Ministry of Health in our collective effort to contain this outbreak in advance of the Christmas Holiday.”
