Two new cases of Covid-19 were logged yesterday by health officials.The cases were included in 890 results that came back to the Ministry of Health.A ministry spokeswoman said both the victims were close contacts of cases identified earlier and that contact tracing was under way.The news meant that Bermuda’s total number of cases is now 174.There are eight active cases, all monitored by public health officials, but none are in hospital.The death toll remains at nine and 157 people have recovered.Kim Wilson, the health minister, said that government epidemiologists had been alerted to an increased number of reports of fever and respiratory problems similar to Covid-19 symptoms — especially in children aged under 5.She added: “Further analysis indicated that this increase is driven by human rhinovirus/enterovirus.“Human rhinoviruses are the main causes of the common cold and enteroviruses also cause mild illness, very similar to the common cold.“Symptoms of the common cold include sore throat, runny nose, coughing, sneezing, headaches, and body aches.” Ms Wilson added: “Enteroviruses can also cause fever.“These symptoms are similar to coronavirus — Covid-19 — and the infections are also spread similarly.”She added that prevention measures would minimise the risk of respiratory illness and that people should wash their hands often with soap and water or use an alcohol-based sanitiser.Ms Wilson said people should also avoid touching their face or others with unwashed hands.People who display symptoms of respiratory illness or fever should phone their doctors before they went to the surgery.Ms Wilson said: “The physician can then determine the need for Covid-19 or other respiratory virus testing.”Bermuda’s Covid-19 country status is still “sporadic cases” and the seven-day average of the real-time reproduction number is less than 1.