by STAFF WRITER
December 21, 2021
HAMILTON, Bermuda, Dec 21, CMC — Health Minister Kim Wilson has warned Bermudians against complacency ahead of the Christmas holidays after officials logged more than 100 new cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) with the new Omicron variant spreading quickly.
Active cases have more than doubled since the last update, up to 152 from the 62 confirmed on Thursday, health officials said.
There were 74 new cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus out of the 89 cases where typing was available, up from 31 reported last week. The Delta variant accounted for 15 people. One victim is in hospital, but not in intensive care.
“As I have said before, we cannot become complacent. We must continue to be extra vigilant to protect ourselves and our loved ones from the fast-spreading virus,” Wilson said.
“The coronavirus thrives on human contact, and as we head into the holiday season, we must continue to follow public health guidance. Our health and safety depends on being vaccinated and getting your booster, wearing masks, physical distancing, proper ventilation and good hand hygiene,” she added.
The 102 positive cases were among the latest batch of 8,342 test results that came back since Thursday’s update.
Of the new cases, 71 were from overseas, 24 were classed as on-island transmissions and seven are under investigation. In cases from overseas, 91 per cent occurred in fully vaccinated people.
For the on-island transmissions and cases under investigation, 88 per cent were in fully vaccinated people. There have been 12 recoveries since Thursday.
In all, Bermuda has recorded 5,917 cases of COVID-19 which has killed 106 people on the island since March of last year. Around 70 per cent of the population of 64,000 have been doubly vaccinated with just under 30 per cent also getting the booster shot so far.
CMC/ic/ir/2021
