Health Minister: “Our Situation Is Critical”
“Our situation is critical. This outbreak continues to spread fast, it is everywhere in our community and, at the risk of causing panic, it is only a matter of time before the situation is unmanageable,” Health Minister Kim Wilson said this evening.
In releasing the latest test results this evening [Sept 17] Minister Wilson said, ”The hospital, public and private labs, contact tracers, testers, indeed, our entire healthcare sector, are all under tremendous pressure. They are doing a fabulous job, and I cannot commend them enough. But we must all do our part to help ease this pressure.”
“To be exceptionally clear, please take individual responsibility for your health and safety. I cannot stress enough how important it is to follow all public health guidance. Wear a mask at all times when you are within 6 ft of other people. Avoid crowded places and closed spaces. Please Bermuda, minimise your movements and keep to your family bubbles.”
Tonight’s figures were the worst since the pandemic began, marking the highest active cases, the most cases in one day, the most people in hospital and the most people in ICU, resulting in the hospital moving to “Disaster Alert Level 4″ today, which is the first time during the pandemic that BHB has moved to the highest alert level.
Unfortunately the Government also confirmed another Covid related death tonight, marking the 38th since the pandemic began, and a sharp increase from the death toll of 33 less than three weeks ago.
“We all must work together to help stop the spread of the virus in our community,” Minister Wilson said.
“Please take note, if you or anyone in your household is feeling ill, even slightly ill, stay home. I cannot stress this enough. We are seeing far too many cases appear because people are either going to work ill, or sending their children to school or camps with symptoms.
“Remember the symptoms include sore throat, headache, stuffy/runny nose, sneezing, cough, diarrhoea, vomiting, fever, muscle/body aches, shortness of breath, or the loss of taste and smell.”
“Also, please take your medically fit for discharge family members home. The hospital is under tremendous pressure, and they need the space for additional admissions, not all of which are Covid related. An overwhelmed hospital with no available beds puts critically ill patients at risk. Anyone who can be discharged must leave the hospital to free up much-needed bed space.”
Minister Wilson concluded, “Bermuda please remember, we are our brother’s keeper. We must act responsibly and adhere to the public health guidelines. Bermuda, we are in a very serious situation and in order to get through this, we must take responsibility for ourselves and others in our community”.
”Each of us has a role to play in stopping the spread of the coronavirus. Follow Public Health guidelines, wear a mask, practice good hand hygiene, maintain physical distance and download the WeHealth Bermuda app.”
BHB CEO Michael Richmond said, “People in the community may not realise the extent of the impact on healthcare services, but they need to be aware that the increasing demand on the hospital may start to impact our ability to deliver the quality of care that we usually strive for each day.
“We are pleading with the community to follow all public health guidance, wear masks at all times inside and outside if within 6 feet of others. Avoid crowds and enclosed spaces. Get vaccinated, please. It is the best defence against serious disease and death.”
You can find more information on the links below from our dedicated website BermudaCovid.com, which is the most comprehensive resource and historic record available of Bermuda’s handling of the pandemic.
- All Charts: Vaccine, testing & more here
- Timelines: Dates of major developments here
- Test results: Chart of testing stats here
- Vaccine: Data covering vaccinations here
- Dedicated website: BermudaCovid.com
This is the situation that the Govt was trying to avoid. The next situation is a meltdown of other services that are regular to our way of life.
How in the world can you anti-vaxxers and pandemic deniers even be this irresponsible and selfish? Take some damn collective responsibility!!
This is unbelievable!!! BHB on level 4, 10,000 SUPPOSEDLY home quarantining, buses suspended, and multiple businesses are close. What else does government want to see happen? Might as well just go on Lockdown to get this under control.
I agree with you, but with Burt Absent for weeks now, doesn’t look like Lockdown is an option. After all, he was all hands last year and now is playing hide and seek. I guess we all will have it the hard way and pay dearly for lack of proper leadership. Very sad.
“Proper leadership?” If the OBA were running things right now, you’d be Dead with a capital D.
Yeah , the ‘No, No , No’ rent a crowd made that perfectly clear not too long ago .
If the OBA was still in office, we’d have a better economy despite the pandemic.
Agreed. Lockdown is the only way out of this. The situation is out of control. The true number of cases will be multiples of the official figures so we really are in a very precarious position and asking people to follow protocols will not cut it. One last lockdown followed by a couple crackdown on the unvaccinated so that we don’t end up in this position again.
Lunacy and fallacy. Name me one lockdown (love that tyranical verbiage by the way) that has worked? How about our two attempts thus far? Yet here we are. You are calling for a stragilation of our economy over a fear of the flu. Yes people die, the vast majority survive. The end result of your ridiculous lockdown on repeat cycle is POVERTY. From that, all manner of social ills will arise; with results much worse that Covid.
Lockdown costs money to the government… quarantine is free!
Vaccination is a civic duty. Government didn’t have the guts to institute a Vaccination mandate after the surge in April, and now we pay the price for the foolish and irresponsible concept that vaccination against covid is a personal choice. Has anyone heard of outbreaks of diptheria, smallpox or polio? Your welcome, responsible people got vaccinated years ago and thats why those diseases are no longer prevalent. Even France understands that you need a vaccination mandate!
The govt needs to stop thinking about their own popularity for future elections and do what is right, and that, right now, is limiting the ability of unvaccinated people to circulate in society. Why? Because unvaccinated people are the ones most likely to get sick an overwhelm the healthcare system… as we are seeing right now.
YES, vaccinated people can still catch and transmit the virus, but they don’t get as sick, and their viral loads are much lower (so less likely to get others sick as well) and they are less likely to die from the disease
If new restrictions are in the pipeline, please just apply them to the unvaccinated! Why should the majority (vaccinated) people suffer?
Totally agree the ones that haven’t been vaccinated that don’t want it done should be a legal requirement to get them to have the vaccine
Why was having Cup Match a good idea? Does the virus not like cricket?
Did you see cup match Dave at cup match. Wanted an ego boost
Mandatory vaccines now.
Way tooooo late for vaccine mandate. The anti-vaccs will have to get very sick and die. I and I’m sure many have absolutely no sympathy for them.
Poor leadership got us to this.
What leadership? I haven’t seen DB in weeks!
How?
Its not poor leadership when they’ve provided every possible means to have the entire country vaccinated. It’s the anti-vax people who are causing the healthcare system to be overwhelmed. The vaccine is FDA approved, and while it will not prevent Covid, it will prevent hospitalization and death. The government is not here to solve everyone’s problems, it’s the individual who needs to take responsibility.
Burt is missing.
Burt refused to tell people to get vaccinated. Burt never took issue with anti-vaxxers. In fact, Burt called vaccines ‘trinkets’.
Burt sets the rules, and then allows them to be broken. Anyone who wants a large gathering, Burt’s government will issue a permit. Dozens of large ‘exemptions’ are coming up.
And right now, in the middle of the worst part of the pandemic, Burt has disappeared.
“Disappeared?” He’s living on the damn island with the rest of us!
Unfortunately.
It is much easier to blame someone else rather than taking a hard look at one’s own actions.
Burt was happy to take credit when things were going ok.
Now that we have chaos and the hospital overflowing, he disappears. What exactly is he doing that is more important than showing some leadership? He’s been missing for weeks.
It’s poor leadership. He’s a weakling,
To be fair, there haven’t been a lot of photo ops lately.
If there were, he’d be trotting himself out to each and every one of them and his maskless face would be front and center of the media outlets.
If its critical why don’t you mandate vaccination to work as they have done in much of Europe and the US?
Take away their livelihoods and see how quickly these idiots get jabbed.
i agree, 5 days to get the jab or your jobs will be terminated
Correct. If the government are unwilling to mandate vaccines, then allow private businesses to require vaccinations as a condition of employment. And do it now.
Doesn’t fix the lack luster work why civil service, but we don’t get any service their anyway. Let ‘em get sick.
This is a foreigner that supports the OBA with friends like this do we need enemies?
So their are 1,238 positive cases as of yesterday. Of the 1,238, 51 are in the hospital and of the 51, 13 are in ICU. We had an additional 5 deaths. But the number that jumps out to me is the 1,238 positive cases that are at home self quarantining. Our population is 64,000. 10% of that number is 6,400. 1% of that number is 640. At this present time, 64 persons are hospitalized, and 5 have passed away. Which equates to 69 people. Data is crucial to seeing the WHOLE picture CLEARLY.
Ok let’s sort this nonsense out. Firstly we are in the flu and cold season, yes people would get sick. 2nd Everybody is living in air conditioners and fans that gives colds. Before covid people had flus and colds during the summer. 3rd Israel had 4 shots nothing changed people are still getting sick and dying, they might go on their 5th shot but what would that do since the 4th had no effect. I bet the number 10,000 is about the same as before covid started it just wasn’t advertised.
“air conditioners and fans that gives colds”
lol , you are special , aren’t you .
Sounds like you would believe that cold weather makes us get colds too.
If that was the case the Eskimos would have died off thousands of years ago !
Clearly the GOV’T allowed vaccinated people to travel to the island and roam freely after arrival negative test. However, the same people test positive on day 10, by that time the vaccinated have spread the virus island wide.
Exactly! Yet its clear per blogs that the vaccinated think they immune and the unvaccinated the problem! Bull#$&t!
Because the unvaccinated are the problem. Who are the ones dying? The majority of the people in the hospital are unvaccinated. Time to do your civil duty.
You ignored the fact that the unvaccinated in the above senrio is the ones spreading it to the unvaccinated thus putting the unvaccinated in the hospital making it look like the unvaccinated are the problem when the vaccinated spread it to them.
LOL Still researching using ourworldindata.com at the moment more data than I thought. Still trying to isolate cases that actually died due to covid.
typo the vaccinated
Its time to require all non vaccinated people to stay at home until they get vaccinated. Period. Im tired of their nonsense.
I gotta agree with that.
Listen folks, if you are overweight/obese/morbidly obese, (which 75% of this island is) or if you are elderly or immuno compromised get vaxxed.
That said, those that are older and those who are immuno compromised probably already lead a careful life and already protect themselves. It’s the FAT unvaxxed that are living life as if they are vaxxed. They shouldn’t be doing that! By being overweight, YOU ARE IN FACT A COMPROMISED PERSON! Sorry if that is news to you but get vaxxed or roll the dice. The rest of us are over it and believe that Darwin should now take the wheel.
When are we going to call in Medical Assistance from the UK????
We need an additional hospital space for non-covid cases.
Our poor medical workers.
Yes, it is time to put a request in with the FCO.
Either medivac the sick to the UK or requisition a hotel for UK medics.
There are probably already contingency plans in place.
Contingency plans? Have you ever met the PLP?
That will never happen. Berty hates the UK.
Some people need to see how bad it can get in order to realize the necessity for restrictions and appreciate the prior action taken by the government and public health professionals. Living with Covid is not yet about recapturing pre-pandemic life. Living with Covid means taking reasonable and rational precautions now that a new deadly and uncontrolled threat exists in our environment. Everyone needs to learn individual actions, like mask-wearing and social distancing, that will help curb the spread. Better now with this Delta variant than with something else even more deadly or with zero vaccine protection at all. I would rather the government protect us but the resistance to new rules has been fierce. Where are those folks now?
“Our situation is critical. This outbreak continues to spread fast, it is everywhere in our community and, at the risk of causing panic, it is only a matter of time before the situation is unmanageable,” Health Minister Kim Wilson said this evening.”
I cannot think of a better way of describing our current situation.
Exactly! Yet its clear per blogs that the vaccinated think they immune and the unvaccinated the problem! Bull#$&t!
I know an awful lot of people who have been vaccinated and they still go about their lives with utmost caution. And that means no unnecessary public movement or ignoring social and family bubble protocol.
After all , if they were responsible enough to get vaccinated they’re probably responsible enough to carry it through in all other facets of their lives. Can you say the same about people who CAN but won’t get the jab ? Personally I don’t think so.
But at the end of the day the one thing that still seems to be lost on the ‘anti vaxers’ is that vaccinated people will probably not end up very sick and over stressing the limited resources of our only hospital. That is something that the statistics have shown over and over belong to the voluntarily unvaxed.
Just think about impacts to Cargo Dock Workers. If the disease is getting to the point of uncontrollable, it is a matter of time Before they begin to get sick and others have to quarantine. This jeopardizes food and medicine supplies being unloaded in a timely fashion. Similar with Airport Workers.
In the USA , hospitals that are inundated, can pull staff and supplies from neighboring counties and states that may not be as bad. We don’t have as easy an option here. This Delta Variant may be the one to cause utter difficulties on our Island. We are walking a very fine line right now.
You make an extremely valid point .
Where is my Premier, ???? yes we have Ministers to take care of their portfolios
but in a time of CRISIS it is for the Premier to step forward. !!!!!!
Actually its nice not hearing his condescending tone for a change.
I agree with that. He’s unbearable. But he managed to sleepwalk us into this situation. He should make an appearance. He’s not even pretending he cares is going on.
Burt’s Play Book:
Rule #1: when you are busted not knowing how to do your job by the very people that pay your salary, choose someone to push under the bus then distance yourself from that person ASAP.
Rule #2: find an actual bus that’s moving and shove.
Tru dat! Burt’s got it bad and going worse by his silence! Just don’t forget his colleagues, namely the Minister of Youth, Culture and Sport. Why, just why are continuous large group exemptions being allowed, granted right through last Friday 17th?! All these birthday parties, sport gatherings and funerals should be held online (ZOOM) and only permit 20-25 with the regulations (Very close family) to gather at a location? You have a few dozen to a few hundred allowed to gather and sit or stand around. I have Zoomed into a very successful wedding of approximately 200+ people. I KNOW IT WORKS! It was international!
Why is the minister of National Security not shutting this down?! Money? Not protecting people’s lives. The Union March no doubt added to this surge of Covid from two weeks ago.
All the above under Burt’s watch! I am really hating on this miserable set of politicians! The majority of them are ruining Bermuda with their secret agendas. People are upset and some crying out because of the stress created by this Government. All started with the over ballooned Sugar Tax. The financial level of many is in ruins. We need serious help on this rock before it all crumbles!
Burt is the epitome of a politician. Takes credit when things go right, even though politics had no impact, and stays well out of sight when things go wrong, where politics did have an impact. Probably out with Bro Furbert trying to work out a deal to stay as Premier.