The number of active Covid-19 cases remained steady at 11 this week as four new cases were matched by four recoveries.

Kim Wilson, the Minister of Health, said all of the new cases were returning residents and classified as imported.

Ms Wilson said two residents who were found to be positive four days after returning to the island on the July 4 British Airways flight from London.

Another passenger tested positive on his arrival test after they flew to the island on board the July 9 American Airlines flight from Charlotte, while the final new case was a passenger on board the July 7 flight from New York who tested positive on their day four test.

Bermuda’s WHO country status classification remains at “sporadic cases”.

Ms Wilson said: “The decline of new coronavirus cases in Bermuda is extremely encouraging, but we must not let our guard down.”

She highlighted the US Centres for Disease Control’s decision to lower Bermuda’s Covid-19 status from medium to low, which she said was great news for the island and was a step in the right direction to bring back visitors.

Ms Wilson said that 82,050 Covid-19 vaccinations had been delivered over the past 26 weeks with 64.8 per cent of residents now having received at least one shot and 63.3 per cent now fully immunised.

“I recognise there is a lot of reluctance around getting vaccinations coming from a lot of misinformation,” she added. “However the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks at this time.

“I encourage anyone who is trying to make up their mind to seek information that is supported by science and rely on guidance from reliable sources.

“Now is definitely the time to get vaccinated while we have a supply of doses here in Bermuda.”

Ms Wilson also said SafeKey would be extended for another month from July 15 and those with vaccination certifications could renew it by going online at gov.bm/safekey.

David Burt, the Premier, said no travellers since June 20 who were immunised and were infected with Covid-19 had passed it on to anyone else.

He added un-immunised people were 19 times more likely to be infected with Covid-19 than immunised people.

Mr Burt noted that Eastern Counties Cricket would resume on Saturday with a maximum crowd of 1,250 people, all of whom must have SafeKey.

Anyone needing a test in order to obtain a SafeKey for this Saturday’s match receive a Covid-19 test at the Clocktower Mall on Wednesday or Friday between 10am and 3pm, or Penno’s Wharf on Thursday between 10am and 3pm.

They can also book an appointment at Bull’s Head on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday at coronavirus.gov.bm.

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20210713 How Immunity Generated from COVID.pdf

Turning to tourism, Mr Burt said some hotels were seeing occupancy levels come near to 2019 levels achieved before the pandemic struck.

“As tourism was able to restart in 2020, we learned that the reason persons chose Bermuda was because they felt safe thanks to our successful management of the Coronavirus,” he said.

Mr Burt said that with the success of the Viking Cruise Line’s home porting, other cruise lines were now looking at returning to the island this season.

He added: “This is only possible due to our border policies, which are designed to keep dangerous variants out.”

Before the start of the press conference, opponents of the Government's mandatory quarantine against Covid-19 gathered outside the Department of Communications on Church Street in Hamilton.

Mr Burt arrived at 5.35pm and walked through a crowd of more than 30 people supporting a couple facing prosecution for their refusal to comply as unvaccinated travellers.

The protest was peaceful with Ms Ming and Ms Wilson walking past for tonight's press conference on the pandemic.