15 April update – Health Minister Kim Wilson

Between late yesterday and today there were 80 test results received; of those 24 were positive for COVI-19 and 56 were negative. Thankfully, there were no deaths.

I can confirm that of the 24 new positives, 23 were associated with the outbreak at Matilda Smith. On one hand, there is a good thing about this finding which is that it represents a cluster of transmissions, as opposed to untraceable transmission in the community. Nevertheless, it is disheartening news for all concerned and out of respect for patient confidentiality, we will not share information on the number that were residents or staff. The public can be assured that the public health team is actively working with the rest home to contain the situation for all concerned.

I would remind the public that we must not put an emphasis on any setting or facility that is found to have an outbreak. This is a virulent disease and its transmission is not the fault of a facility. We must be sympathetic to those affected and desist from putting additional strain on the persons having to manage the situation.

With these new cases, Bermuda’s total confirmed positive cases is now 81. Their status is as follows:

• 33 have now recovered
• 34 persons are under active public health monitoring, but who do not require hospitalization, and
• 9 persons are hospitalized.

The total deceased stands at 5.

The average age of all of our confirmed positive cases is 56. The median age is 57, and the age range of all of our positive cases is from 18 to 91 years. The age of persons hospitalized ranges between 67 and 82 years, and the average age is 74.

Out of the 81 positive cases confirmed to date, 36 are males, and 45 are females.

Regarding testing, one question which keeps coming up seems to be: “Why can’t we test the entire population?”

The reason we are not doing this is because if we test people too early, the virus may not show up in the test and they could get a false negative. So, for example, if someone were tested within a few hours of exposure when they had no symptoms, the test would not pick up the disease and they would get a negative result that is wrong. Consequently, that individual – thinking they did not have COVID-19 – may go out into the community and spread the virus to others unknowingly.