Inter-Island Communications News Brief – January 29, 2021

As the Bermuda Weather Service forecast predicted, the rough weather expected for Thursday afternoon showed up with force. The morning and early afternoon were, as forecasted, relatively calm but as the day transitioned into the early evening, winds picked up and the temperature began to drop. This trend continued overnight, with gale-force gusts and the overall temperature reaching 55 degrees.

National Security Minister Renee Ming’s overarching message for how the community can best manage this period was quote “From a public safety standpoint, our main message is urging care, caution and common sense. We do not expect a severe interruption of our public services. But, we want the public to make sensible decisions in the interest of safety.”

As far as any interruption of public services goes, that’ll depend at least partially on the state of the power grid. Based on the time of this recording at 6 am this morning, BELCO’s power outage map indicated that the total number of households across the island without electricity was in the low thousands.

A Government spokesperson said quote, “There were 489 test results received by the Ministry of Health since the last update, and one was positive for COVID-19. The new case is classified as under investigation, as it is a resident with no currently identified link to other known cases or history of travel in the past 14 days. Additionally, since the last update, two cases have recovered. There are currently 28 active cases, of which 25 are under public health monitoring and three are in hospital with none in critical care.”

Minister of Health Kim Wilson also reminded the community about some of the Vaccination Centre’s challenges saying quote “The ministry has been informed by members of the Prospect Vaccination Team that they are encountering issues with traffic which is leading to residents experiencing delays when they arrive for their appointment time. We ask that you come to the Staging Area located in the parking lot of the Clyde Best Centre of Excellence, but please do not arrive more than 10 minutes before your scheduled appointment. Also, please do not come to the Staging Area if you do not have a scheduled appointment. If you do not have an appointment, please do not attend the Vaccination Centre at all. Additionally, if you are transporting a family member, we ask you to please note that only one person is allowed to accompany a family member.”

Minister for the Cabinet Office Wayne Furbert yesterday released the 2020 Environmental Statistics Compendium from the Department of Statistics, describing the document saying quote “The Compendium is structured into thirteen sections and contains brief analyses, tables and graphs for each section. There are more than 40 statistical tables which provide a wealth of data about Bermuda’s environmental conditions. This publication is an excellent tool for research, school projects and promoting awareness about issues affecting Bermuda’s environment. Some of the 2018 to 2019 highlights include:

The number of reported environmentally-related diseases, such as acute bronchitis and gastroenteritis, increased by 3.9% from 5,568 to 5,786.
Total fish landings totalled 306.6 metric tonnes in 2019, an increase of 3.8% from the previous year. Species such as tunas, groupers, jacks and snappers accounted for the most landed fish in 2019.
In 2019, total electricity consumption decreased by 2.4% to approximately 554 million kWh from 568 kWh in 2018. Residential customers were responsible for 42.9% of the total consumption of electricity in 2019.
There were 2,620 fires reported in 2019, an increase of 24.6% from last year. Most of the fires [41.3%] were classified as “Structural” fires which also included false alarms.”

Props due to Joshua Bate Trading for partnering with a US-based non-profit to help get beds to local kids in need. Charity Sleep in Heavenly Pace joined up with the Joshua Bate team for their Bunkbed Build Day, with the central mission of building bunk beds for Bermudian children who require them. Joshua Bate, President of his company, told Bernews that the partnership is connected with that organization’s core values.