The One Bermuda Alliance has criticised the pace of the Government’s updates on Covid-19 after a weekend of “depressing and grim” news on the pandemic.

Michael Dunkley, the Shadow Minister of Health, offered the Opposition’s sympathy to the families of the two patients whose deaths were announced on Sunday night.

But he charged that “many in our community feel the Government recently has fallen short in releasing the latest updates in a timely fashion”.

With more than 100 positive cases of coronavirus infections reported on Saturday, Mr Dunkley said there had been “rumours rampant” about hospital cases rising.

He maintained that despite “imperative” need for clarity, assurance from the Government “did not happen”.

The two latest deaths were announced shortly after 9pm yesterday.

Mr Dunkley highlighted that the island’s Covid-19 status has been raised by the United States Centres for Disease Control from Level 2 to Level 4, which he called “very high”.

“In short, all the progress we have made has simply vanished and we are being tested severely.”

Mr Dunkley said the Opposition called for the Government to update the country tonight on recent testing and testing time frames, with “full disclosure of hospitalisation” – as well comment on when the present spike in cases was expected to fall.

He said the OBA hoped to see plans for dealing with vaccine hesitancy, a figure on vaccine stocks, and quantities and arrival dates of next shipments.

Mr Dunkley added the Opposition was seeking an update on adherence to Covid-19 restrictions over the Easter weekend – and said the island needed to hear “what is being done to assure the CDC and the US we have plans to get this drastic spike under control”.