Bermuda’s confirmed cases of Covid-19 have almost halved in the past week, health officials revealed yesterday.

The island has 69 active cases, according to the latest test results, with eight people in hospital and none being treated in intensive care for the virus.

Although the figures technically mark the lowest seen in Bermuda for 2022, Kim Wilson, the health minister, cautioned during the summer that reduced testing meant an unknown pool of Covid-19 was likely circulating in Bermuda undetected.

Ms Wilson warned on June 29 that the ministry could only report on data being collected.

She added: “So we know that the number of cases we are reporting is much lower than what is actually occurring in the community, as we cannot collect data from people who are testing positive at home.”

However, the latest numbers set a new low among the test results issued by the ministry since then.

At the last report on September 7, the island logged 122 active cases, with six people in hospital.

The latest figures continue a downward trend in cases seen over recent weeks.

The figure marks Bermuda’s lowest numbers for the virus since its Omicron strain surged into prominence late last year.

On December 16, 2021 when the island had 62 known active cases, numbers were soaring, reaching almost 2,000 in January as the new strain spread rapidly, while the previous Delta strain dwindled.

That surge dominated January, and cases since have tended to hover in the low 100s.

New variants of Omicron appear to have dominated spread on the island ever since.

The latest results show there were 7,334 tests in the last week, with 59 found positive, yielding a positivity rate of 1 per cent.

Of those, 26 came from overseas, five were deemed local transmission and a further 27 are under investigation.

There have been 111 recoveries since the last update.

The island has recorded 18,077 coronavirus cases since the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020, with 148 deaths linked to the virus – the last more than one month ago.

Ms Wilson noted the coming advent of cold and influenza season.

As with Covid-19, the illnesses thrive in places of close contact, and are spread by coughing and sneezing as well as hand contact with the face.

Ms Wilson advised anyone feeling unwell to consider using a mask to protect others.