The Minister of Health appealed to the public for patience today as testing teams handle large numbers of Covid-19 tests.

Kim Wilson was speaking as her ministry reported this evening that between Sunday and today, it received 1,487 test results and none were positive for Covid-19.

Ms Wilson said: “The holiday weekend was a time for fun and relaxation for the country as a whole — a much needed and deserved respite.

“However, my deepest thanks goes to the Covid-19 testing teams who continued to work diligently throughout the holiday weekend to ensure traveller testing continued to take place and results could be delivered as fast as possible.

“We are aware that at times there were longer than usual waits for testing and results over the long weekend, but we beg the public’s patience and understanding while our small teams handle an increasingly large volume of tests.

“Bermuda is a very small jurisdiction and we are testing approximately 500 people a day. This is a very significant number for a population our size.”

Ms Wilson noted “the vast majority” of results are returned in less than 24 hours, which she said was “far better than most jurisdictions, as many travellers complain they can’t get results overseas in seven days to obtain approval to travel to Bermuda”.

She continued: “Our testing is also free to non-travellers and, while there are lines waiting for the testing, we have worked hard to ensure we avoid the multi-hour queues that are reported in some other jurisdictions.

“People should attend for testing per their scheduled time, to minimise wait times. However, we ask for your continued patience as Bermuda’s Ministry of Health team handles significant volumes of testing to keep the country safe.”

Bermuda has 157 confirmed positive cases of Covid-19. Four are now active cases under active public health monitoring.

No one is in hospital.

A total of 144 people have recovered, and nine people have died.

The average age of Bermuda’s confirmed positive cases is 59 and the age range of positive cases is from 18 to 101.

Of all local cases, 53 are imported, 85 are local transmission with known contact, 19 are local transmission with an unknown contact and none are under investigation.

The ministry said Bermuda’s country status is “sporadic cases”. The seven-day average of real time reproduction number is less than 1.