Bermuda’s response to the pandemic has put the island in “a socially engineered bubble”, the leader of the Free Democratic Movement has claimed.

Marc Bean, who said he had been travelling during the pandemic, returned to the island last week to attend the funeral of LaVerne Furbert of the Bermuda Industrial Union.

He added: “When I landed a few days ago, I felt a cloud of darkness, pessimism, demoralisation, deprivation. People are suffering.”

He asked the Government: “While the media might be praising you for your so-called handling of Covid, what is the real impact and effect of your decisions?”

Mr Bean, a former leader of the Progressive Labour Party, added: “People are afraid to travel, to do anything.

“I’m going to encourage people – do not allow fear to control your lives.”

He said he would have taken “a different approach” to the containment Covid-19.

He added Florida, and Miami in particular, were said to be at “ground zero” of the coronavirus pandemic when he visited.

Mr Bean said: “I went for a drive. I went to Aventura Hospital, just about every hospital in the Miami Fort Lauderdale area.

“I observed and asked – where was what was seen in the mainstream media? Where is this ground zero? People laughed at me.”

Mr Bean added Ron DeSantis, the Governor of Florida, had taken “a more balanced approach”.

“He hasn’t said you can do whatever you like – there are restrictions, masks going into establishments.

“But there is a much higher degree of freedom in Florida than what you have in Bermuda.”

Mr Bean compared Bermuda to New York and California, both controlled by the Democrats.

He added: “You’ll see people vacationing from them in other countries because they’re sick and tired of being under that yoke.

“I’m able to speak because I have travelled under Covid. I’ve been able to compare the responses and the conditions of people on the ground in various countries.

“What I see in Bermuda is almost as if this country is being run by an external power. It’s like one big dark death cult.”

Mr Bean was accused of criticism of mask-wearing just before last October’s General Election.

He later said he had been speaking about “getting fresh air and exercise”.

He added: “They tried to spin it.”

Mr Bean insisted that the island had gone too far in “shutting down the economy under the guise of protecting people”.

He asked: “What is the motivation of locking down your country, of putting people on curfew?

“That’s a form of social apartheid.”

Mr Bean said his flight to the island had about 12 people on board, but destinations such as Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia and the Dominican Republic were attracting large numbers of visitors.

He added: “People innately want to go where they can feel free. No one wants to come to a country where it’s utter control.”

Mr Bean said people should travel to see other jurisdictions.

He told the public: “Get on the aircraft and go see for yourself. Nobody is flying. Tickets are cheap.

“Some people are making it happen while you’re locked down.”