April 17, 2020

Okay. Go right ahead.
MP Dunkley has the floor.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, as I start my comments this
morning, let me start out by giving thanks to all of those, starting with the Premier and colleagues who
have worked so hard to try to put us in a better pos ition, especially all of the frontline workers, or the essential workers, everyone who has been hard at work
to make sure that we can stay as safe and healthy as
possible.
Also, Mr. Speaker, with a very heavy heart,
and I am sure I am speaking for all Members of the
House, let me extend my prayers and blessings to
everyone who has been infected and been fighting the
virus. Certainly, Mr. Speaker, condolences, publicly, to
the families and the friends of the five who have trag ically lost their lives in fighting the battle of this deadly
virus. It goes to show, as colleagues have said, that
this virus knows no boundaries.
As we head through this very rough and rocky
journey, Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to see that collab-oration and communication have been at the forefront. And I want to thank the Premier and his colleagues for
ensuring that this is the case. It has not always
worked out as we would expect because some of the
meetings have not been able to be conducted in an
appropriate place. But still, we have tried. And I think
generally in a dark time for our community, people are
very happy to see politicians from both sides of the
aisle coming together to face this crisis head- on and
move this community forward. So we generally support that.
And I would like to especially thank Minister
Caines for all of his energy in taking comments and
advice, and some criticism from time to time, from our
colleagues as we have moved forward.
Mr. Speaker, it is important in this crisis that
we have unity as a community. But as my colleague,
the Honourable Scott Pearman, said in a column the other day, “acts of solidarity” does not mean that we
should not give advice and offer constructive criticism
as we move forward, because the decisions that are
made are made in the best vein when people have the
ability to input into that. Unity in crisis means that we
have to speak frankly to people from time to time, as we can move forward.
Let us face it, Mr. Speaker and colleagues.
This Island has been paralysed by COVID -19.
COVID -19 does not discriminate between black and
white, between east and west, between Bermudians and non- Bermudians, between rich and poor. It can
infect any one of us at any time if we do not take the
precautions.
So I commend the Government for the shelter
in place. But, Mr. Speaker, as my colleagues have
said, we have challenges here today because, while
we support the shelter in place, we are still trying to
grasp the reasons that the Government has asked for
the state of emergency to be extended until the end of
June. And at this point, the Government has not said
the [reason] why it needs to be extended to the 30
th of
June clearly, because we can come back to the House with these virtual meetings. We can discuss
important topics in relation to this. The People’s
House can operate virtually, as we have proven here
today, and the people still need to have a voice.
And why is that critical, Mr. Speaker? B ecause we are going through something which we all agree we have never seen before in our lifetimes. And
certainly this country has not seen it for over 100
years, where we are so paralysed, where people live
in fear. And while the Government is trying to put i nformation out to allow us to be in a better position to understand it, there are still so many unanswered
questions and so much fear and so much concern that
people have every day.
The model that the Government is using has
only just started to see some scope within the community. My colleagues have mentioned the Opposition
had a chance to get on to a meeting Wednesday to
discuss it. But unfortunately, some of us did not have


Bermuda House of Assembly the ability to get online and get it sorted out to review
the model. And having said that, because the model
has not been understood enough, has not been questioned enough, people still live with grave concern.
We need to accept, Mr. Speaker, as I think we all have, that information is the ke y.
And as we go through something that is so
critical in our lives that very few people understand . . .
certainly most of the public that we serve day to day
do not understand what is next for Bermuda. Where
are we? Where do we stand on that curve of infe ction? When is our worst period of time on infections
for hospital care going to be? All of those critical questions need to be answered.
And with this information, Mr. Speaker, I contend that it will help people accept and appreciate the conditions that are imposed on us by staying in place.
It will help people learn more about the ever -changing
environment that we live in today. It will help people
understand what we need to see to progress. B ecause, Mr. Speaker, I ask a question to the Honour able Prem ier and colleagues: In two weeks’ time as we
come to the end of the extension to May 2
nd, what
does the Government need to see to be able to ease restrictions on the shelter in place? What is the pr ogress line that we need to see?
And with all of this inf ormation, it provides
people hope as they go through the day -to-day when
they are sheltering, when they are shut in. It brings
them along through tough times, Mr. Speaker. And I
think that is important. With information, we can bring
people along through t hese tough times. It gives them
some hope when constantly, from day to day, they are challenged with feeling positive about the next step. When they have their down days, when their strength
is tested, when their stamina is tested, when their
mental well -being is put under the test, it allows people to say, Yes, we are facing a very rocky journey.
But it will get better as we move forward.
So, having said that, Mr. Speaker, I would
hope that the Government would provide more information on the model. It has taken some time to roll out
to the public. It needs to happen forthwith for people
to have understanding and move forward on that. But we need to also understand, as my colleagues said,
that this is going to be a multistep process. The first step is getting through the shelter in place. The second step is the rebuilding of the economy. Because,
having said that, Mr. Speaker, COVID -19 is going to
affect all of us no matter who we are. And our econ omy was not in great shape before that. And we need to realise that while people struggled before, they are
going struggle even more after we come through this
because of the impact of COVID -19.
And I applaud the Government to date for
some of the programmes that they put in place with
the unemployment benefits. But the road to getting
back on our feet is going to be a difficult one because the immense challenge reaches so far into our co m-munity, and there are no simple answers or simple
programmes that we can enact to help people get
through the challenge that we face.
And, Mr. Speaker, as we look at this state of
emergency that is about to be continued till the 30
th of
June—and the Opposition does not agree with it —one
of the reasons why it is more important than ever that
this House continues to meet is because the regul ations under the royal prerogative are discussed by the
Premier and colleagues nationally when they come to their broadcast. But they are only laid, and the House
never gets a chance to debate them. It is critically i mportant that the People’s House has an opportunity to
debate important information as we go through this
journey of the state of emergency.
I fully expect, Mr. Speaker, over the next two
weeks, for it to be very difficult at times. I would hope
we would see some progress. But I understand and
accept, because of what this virus has done in cou ntries throughout the world, Mr. Speaker, that we probably still have some upw ard trajectories to face on this
curve of infections. And I fully expect that easing of
restrictions is also going to be a long journey for us as
we go through. And that makes it even more critical
that the 36 Members elected can have an opportunity
to speak for the people whom they represent and that
Government has an opportunity to listen to what all
Members have to say.
And I know that Government is trying very
hard. I cannot speak for my honourable colleagues,
Mr. Speaker, but I can say that I am sure we have all
been inundated in the past couple of weeks, and certainly the past couple of days, when they realised we
were having this virtual [ sitting ]. People have been
inundating and saying, Please ask these questions.
Please make these points for us. We need to keep
open the channels of communication, and we need to
keep open the ability for you, Mr. Speaker, and the
House of Assembly to call meetings where we can
discuss this matter and we can make suggestions to the Premier and his colleagues.
Now, my colleagues have asked some very
important questions . And I hope we get those a nswered going forward. One is, we would like to see more clarity over the next couple of days and weeks
on what our aggressive testing regime is going to
mean. How many tests a day will be conducted? What
is the focus on these tests? Will they be focusing on
our frontline workers, our health care workers? Will
they be focusing in on hot spots in the community? Things like that are important for people to understand
where we are and where we are going next.
In addition, Mr. Speaker, there has been a lot
of talk of contact tracing. And we applaud contact tracing 100 per cent. But it would be very helpful for the
people whom we serve to get some understanding of the success of contact tracing, what information it has
brought to bear that impacts our model and how we
are in a better position because of it. So people need
3898 17 Apr il 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly to know and understand what contact tracing means
and how successful we are on tracking it down. Obv iously, if cont act tracing is successful, we could limit
the spread of the virus in any way because we can
find out the roots of where it has been spread.
Mr. Speaker, I believe it would also be a
bene fit for the community if the Government was able
to tell us what the infection rate is , because if the i nfection rate is 1 to 1.5, we have serious issues. And
easing up restrictions cannot be considered in any
sustainable way unless that infection rate gets down somewhere below 0.9. And even at that time, easing
of restric tions will have to be done very carefully because that infection rate can go back up again. And
that is what we always worry about. Once you ease restrictions, the virus can come back.
And so this is a slow process as we go
through it. I applaud the Gover nment on providing i nformation, but there is much more information that
needs to be provided.
I will conclude, Mr. Speaker, by saying that I
support the Opposition Leader and colleagues when
we talked about having the bipartisan committee to
look at the w ay forward. We need to start talking
about when the airport is going to be opened up. How
we are going to support tourism? Because tourism at this point in time, like many other jurisdictions, is dead on the vine, and many properties will not be [able] to
even open their doors in the coming months and per-haps until next year unless we do something to help
them move forward.
As my colleague, Ben Smith, talked about,
retail businesses are struggling. They will need a lif eline. And as we all know, there are m any people who
are getting unemployment insurance. But when that
12 weeks ends up, the sun will rise, but they will still be in a very difficult position.
And so, here we are in the Opposition. We are
ready to work with the Government. We are ready to
provide advice to the Government. We are ready to
support the Government. But we cannot today, Mr.
Speaker, support the state of emergency being extended to the end of June when we have the ability to come back any day we want to Parliament to debate
things, to discuss things and approve an extension
going forward. We support shelter in place to May 2
nd.
We look forward to what will be announced on easing
restrictions. And we will continue to support the Go vernment. But we will make sure that we stand up and
say what concerns we have.
So in closing, Mr. Speaker, I look forward to
the Honourable Premier when he has an opportunity to wrap up, and I hope that he is getting the rest and
the nutrition that he needs to continue to work those
long, tough days like we all are doing. This is a long
journey. And we cannot think that we are super -
people and we will get through it without taking care of ourselves. We need to take care of ourselves as well. We would look for the Premier and his colleagues to say why it needs to be extended till June 30
th, why we cannot extend it till May 2nd, come
back and meet again and let the people’s voice be
heard through all 36 Members of Parliament.
Mr. Speaker, thank you. And to you and colleagues, I wish you health and safety. And together
we will get through this and we will rise again because Bermudians and our residents are strong.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Point of order.

POINT OF ORDER

Hon. E. David Burt: And I am just going to raise it at
the end of the Honourable Member who just spoke for purposes of clarification, because it has been raised a
number of times. And I put it in at that, Mr. Speaker.
There keeps being this convers ation/discussion about the issue of the debate of regulations inside of the House. And it has to be continua lly reminded, as I said before, that these particular
regulations are made under the power of the Crown
and are not subject to parliamentary scrutiny.
As I indicated to Members of the Opposition
when we met with them on Wednesday, and I indicat-ed the fact that we were going to look to extend the
emergency powers until the end of June, which is the
longest possible amount of time, we said at that point
in time that it is to gi ve us the time and opportunity to
come up with public health Acts that allow us to i mpose the type of restrictions which are necessary in order to ensure that the country can manage this type
of thing.
Other countries have the ability to do these
restrict ions without emergency powers. Unfortunately,
in Bermuda we do not have those particular abilities
under our own Public Health Act. So the view is to put
in place new legislation, and when new legislation is
put in place the emergency powers can be rescinded.
The fact is, however, Mr. Speaker, that the
point to take it all the way to the 30
th is the maximum
allowable time because, as is stated, we are looking
at a peak under the better -case scenario of September. And we will need to be flexible on and off again.
And what is important is that the Government is f ocused on managing this crisis.
So I am sorry for that long intervention, Mr.
Speaker. I hope that other Members will be guided by that. I am happy to answer Members’ questions when
we come towards t he conclusion.


Bermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: Thank you, Mr. Premier. We look forward to having your right to reply at the end of the m otion.
I believe Minister De Silva, would you still like
to speak?

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, Mr. Dunkley.

POINT OF CLARIFICATION

Hon. Mic hael H. Dunkley: Yes, Mr. Speaker. I appr eciate the clarifications that the Honourable Premier
has just provided. However, having said even what
the Honourable Premier said, that does not mean that
we cannot come back as a Legislature and discuss regulations that have been, or are being, enacted.
The Government obviously has the ability and
the authority to enact legislation, and the Governor will
have some hand in that as well. Our point is that as
Members of the Legislature, we should have the abi lity to speak for the people to discuss these regul ations. And because we can meet virtually, we can meet at any time you call a meeting, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you for that point of clarification and order.

Thank you.
Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have
to clarify. It is very important, Mr. Speaker.
I agree with the Honourable Member that it
makes sense for the House of Assembly to be able to
debate these items. And that is the precise reason
why we are going to bring into place legislation that
will subject this to parliamentary scrutiny. Nobody wants to be in the position where we are currently
right now.
However, the fact is what we are dealing with
is a public health crisis that our modelling says is going to take us at least all the way to September, even
in a better -case scenario. So we have to make sure
that we are focused on this. So I accept that Honourable Members want to have this type of scrutiny; it
makes perfect sense in order to do that. But right now
the G overnment must have the flexibility that it needs
in order to continue to manage this particular public
health crisis. And that is what we laid out. I find it actually surprising, as we went over
this in a meeting on Wednesday, and I explained the
ration ale and the amendments that would be coming
to the Public Health Act to ensure that the requisite parliamentary scrutiny can be given as we move for-ward. It is not the perfect situation where we are now,
Mr. Speaker. It is not. We do not like this situation. But
we have to do it because these are the only laws that
we have right now which enable us to put in the pr otections to make sure that we do not reach that dreaded 700 number that our modelling is showing us.

I will abide you 20 seconds, and that is
it. The seconds are now.

POINT OF ORDER
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciated the Premier’s explanation. When
will the legislation be coming ( as all Members were
not in that Wednesday meeting for technical difficu lties)? If the Opposition has an understanding of when,
then we can consider that.

Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Speaker, the legislation is
one of the urgent parts of this Government as the current situation is not ideal and we do not like it. At the
point in time when that legislation is brought to the House of Assembly and passed by the Senate, the
Cabinet wi ll ask the Governor to revoke the emergency powers declaration. But it is extended for its full
period in time because we do not know what may
happen. There could be an outbreak. There could be
Members of the House of Assembly who come down with it. There are lots of different things that may or
may not happen.
But the thing that I told Honourable Members
was that we are going to bring the legislation as quic kly as possible so that we can have the power underneath the regular process in order to implement these
things, as everyone must recognise that an emergency powers resolution and an Emergency Powers Act
3900 17 Apr il 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly is not the best way in which to handle it. However,
unfortunately, it is the only way that we can actually
put inside the requisite controls to preserv e lives in the
country.

Loud and clear.

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: No. I would defer and wait
for the Leader’s comments.
Whilst I have the floor, I would just like to
thank all the people not only on the front line, Mr.
Speaker, but we have had many people who are what I call unsung heroes who are working behind the
scenes delivering food and supplies to our people who are immobile. So I would just like to take that opportunity to thank them. And of course, I think when the
Premier replies, he will cover all bases.
Thank you very much.

All right. You have the floor.
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: First of all I want to say,
Mr. Speaker, that I think it is important for us to under-stand that the concern that the Opposition is raising
right now is not a partisan issue. We too have had
people out there, members of the public, asking us
about why regulations are in place, why they are not
able to do certain things. And therefore, it is important for us to g et clear that we are representing the people
of Bermuda when we express their concerns.
I think that with respect to understanding the
benefits of a nimble Government, yes ; we all know
that the Government has to make decisions . And we
know that they are t rying to get as much input, which
is why the Opposition has felt that it could freely give suggestions, come forward and ask questions so that
the people of Bermuda can believe that we are trying
to make sure that Bermuda survives this.
But I think what w e have to understand is that
for the people of Bermuda, we hear things about tes ting. We hear things about orders. We hear things
about tracing. But the bottom line for them is that they
want to understand why we are doing what we are
doing, what can be ex pected. Because they want to
ensure that it works. They want to understand what the results are supposed to be. And they want to un-derstand if they will be sufficient to keep this virus
from spreading further. Or will we have to do som ething more? And unless we have the ability to be able
to have a target, know how well we are meeting it and
know what changes that we have to make, the people
of Bermuda are wondering if we are doing enough. Could we be doing more?
And you know what Bermuda is like, Mr.
Speaker. Everybody hears something, and in the absence of definitive statements they make up their own
conclusions. And I want to say something, because I think we forget that it is our job. And I say it is our job
as the Opposition . It is our job as people of Bermuda
to understand the process and to question what is
being targeted, because we need to ensure that it is
going to meet the desired results.
We also need to understand that if problems
are coming up, then we know that the Government
has put in some modifications to achieve the results
that we need and to make sure that these things are
done in a timely manner. And, Mr. Speaker, I thought
to myself, We do not realise it, but this is the equiv alent of Bermuda’s performance measure. At budget
time we h ave performance measures here. And we
tell the people of Bermuda, This is what we’re going to
do, and then [one] year later, we go back and we see
how well we achieved it. In some cases we achieve it;
in some cases we do not.
But this performance measure for Bermuda
has some very significant and important targets in the sense that if we do not do this right, more people are
going to get this virus. If we do not do this right, more
people not only are going to be infected, but unfort unately the numbers of death are going to increase. So
when we ask the questions, we want to make sure
that the targets that we set are achievable. We want
to make sure that the basis on which these targets
have been set are also logical in the Bermuda context.
Because whether we like it or not, Bermuda has some
unique characteristics in terms of what we have to do
in terms of getting test kits here or what we have to do
in terms of being able to do the tests. What are we
going to have to do with respect to tracing, et cetera?
I have said to someone at some point in time,
that I thought that Bermuda had a unique opportunity
because of our size. Once we closed our borders down we were then able to stop our overseas transmission. We then could turn around and focus on local


Bermuda House of Assembly transmis sion. I also said that because of our size we
should have been able to trace it and have —

Somebody’s microphone is on. Som ebody’s microphone is on. Please turn your micr ophone off.
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: We have the ability when
it comes to tracing to know that we do not have an
unlimited population. Our population here is fairly
manageable, in my opinion. But you have to make
sure that the resources are there. We also have to
make sure that the people understand very clearly the questions that they are being asked and be as honest
as they can in terms of who they have been in touch
with or where they have been, because that is the only way that tracing is going to work.
I also have a real concern, Mr. Speaker, because knowing from the get -go that the people who
are going to be most affected are those people who are vulnerable, those people who have medical problems, but also those are the people who, just by virtue
of the fact that they are the elderly, are the individuals
who are going to be most affected by coming in contact with other peopl e who, based on their age, are
probably able to manage it. This is how we get the
issue of people being asymptomatic and just going
along and not understanding, and other people coming in contact with them and being wiped out.
So, Mr. Speaker, when we ask questions
about at what point in time were the rest homes and
nursing homes told to stop having people come in
there, when we ask questions about where do we
stand with respect to having anybody who was a staff
member at the nursing homes and rest homes being tested, when we ask questions about how we were
doing with respect to tracing, and you do not get —

Hon. Wayne Caines: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.

We will take a point of order.

POINT OF ORDER
[Misleading]

Hon. Wayne Caines: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.
The Member is misleading the House. The
Minister of Health answered every question with reference to when people were asked about visiting in
the nursing home. She has been very clear publicly
and talking directly to the Opposition wit h reference to testing and testing procedures, who will be tested and
when they will be tested and why they were not being
tested. It is incorrect to say that we have not been
clear about those procedures.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member.

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Mr. Speaker, with no r espect . . . or I should say, with all due respect, I am
going to say that we have been asking the questions
about this, asking long before the Minister started to
tell us [answers], because the initial questions were
about nursing h omes in general. It was not about a
specific nursing or rest home. And I think what people
need to understand is that when you ask these things,
the answers that you get are not as precise as they could be. And that is where we have the problem.
Mr. Speak er, as we go forward, one of the
concerns (and this is the conclusion that I have
drawn ) is the fact that we have not been able to aggressively test as the Premier wanted us to do or said we were going to do. It is because we did not have the
number of tes ts. And because we did not have the
number of tests, we had to manage with what we had.
Or we had to decide who the test would be given to in
terms of people most likely to be affected and spread. I understand that.
But let us be honest with all of this, if you have
an issue in terms of testing, [the] number of tests, you
therefore have to say that there was some degree of prioritisation, and let the people of Bermuda under-stand. Even if we have to say we did not intend to
have a restriction on the number of tests we had, we
were out there doing what we wanted, but our efforts did not result in the timeliness of what we have found.
That at least lets the people know why the numbers of
tests are . . . I mean, most people who understand the
science would say, Okay. If these are the numbers of
tests you have (just 10 or whatever else, the number
that you had in the beginning) . . . you kn ew that they
were not going to be that strong, because you had 80
tests , and you are going to spread them all out? You
cannot do 80 in the first. You have to try and give
them to the people who have most logically been exposed to see whether you have to do something about
managing them.
Because we understand that it is managing
and we understand that it is important for us to try and
test those people.

[Crosstalk]

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: I think, Mr. Speaker, what
we also understand, which is something that we are
all learning, Bermuda learned, the same way the rest
of the country learned, is the fact that, you know, the people who are asymptomatic . . . we realise now that
they are out there. They do not realise what is hap3902 17 Apr il 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly pening. But they are exposing other people. And
therefore, this whole thing about tracing is so i mportant. This whole thing about people understanding
how you protect yourself in terms of washing your
hands and going out there and having masks on, and not going out and visiting your vulnerable people,
whether they are elderly or not . . . all of these things , I
know the Government has been trying to get the people of Bermuda to understand. But unfortunately, like
everything else, not everybody understands. And,
therefore, we have got to keep saying it over and over.
But getting back to where we are today , Mr.
Speaker, I think it is important to realise that in order
for the people of Bermuda to say, Let me be comfor table with the fact that I am not going to be able to
have the ability to assemble and do what I want . . .
And I am going to turn around and say that there is a
regulation that says I cannot do all of these things until
the end of June. They need to understand the logic of
doing this and what the Government hopes to
achieve. And when I say what the Government hopes
to achieve, they have to see how . . . I know it is too
early to talk about how the curve is bending. But you have Public Health England telling us certain things.
They obviously have some projections, and we have
to know . . . are we meeting those projections?
And they also have to know that in terms of
the testing, in terms of the isolation and those other things, are we doing that in a manner that [states] that
the parameters, the presumptions . . . because when
you do this, when you come up with modelling, you
have some presumpti ons. And you have to make sure
that those presumptions are actually real. The pr esumptions are in terms of the tracing, the presum ptions in terms of the numbers of tests that you could
do.
I am really pleased that we are actually going
to have another lab open up. I am disappointed when
I hear some of the things that we do not have, which
means that having the kit means that you do not act ually have as much of what you think you have because there are some things here that are what I call limiters. And tho se limiters mean that you cannot do
the whole process until everything is there.
So, Mr. Speaker, I am, like my colleagues,
supportive of what the Government has to do with r espect with having us staying inside, having us being in
place, going out, not ma king sure that we do anything
to impact on—

Member, you have less than a minute
on your time.

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Okay. But what I do think,
Mr. Speaker . . . and I appreciate what the Premier
said with respect to the legislation. And I think that this
is why it is important, because if legislation is coming,
until that comes, the people of Bermuda have to know in the interim how are you doing in terms of what you
want to achieve when you are telling us, Stay at
home .
Are we achieving that goal, that target? If we
are, they will feel more comfortable. If [we] are not,
they will want to know what else we are doing differently. What are we changing to make sure this happens? Mr. Speaker, without that, there is a degree of
uncomfortableness in terms of extending this.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There you go. Yes, you are on now,
Deputy.
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, again I want to thank all those
who are on the front line, all the health care workers,
the caregivers, our sanitation workers, the Bermuda
Regiment , the Police, the Chief Medical Officer. And
also, Mr. Speaker, I would like to give thanks to the
local business community, the international business
community for all the assistance they have given us
and the people of Bermuda.
Mr. Speaker, let me just say that the order
until the end of June to me is not an issue. Because if it was an issue, the Governor, who resides on Lan gton Hill, would have informed the Premier it is too
long. And it is only there as a provision if we need it.
So it is not an issue to be debating and saying we do
not agree or disagree. To me it is nonsense, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, when the Opposition are calling
for more informat ion, the information is given daily.
The Premier and his team are there, and they are
there as long as it takes, necessary questions coming
from the press and everybody else and giving that
information. Mr. Speaker, all the policies and regul ations for thi s pandemic that we are dealing with have
come from the medical health professionals. Let me be clear, because it seems like some of the Oppos ition feel that we sit down and just make decisions
amongst ourselves.

Your microphone is on.
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: No one else. Let us be
clear about that.
And, Mr. Speaker, let me say this here. We
have been getting approval from just about everyone
whom I have talked to about the leadership of this si tuation we have. We have been applauded from all walks of life. And to come and say that some of the comments I have heard this morning would have
somebody think a little differently. The Premier has
made it quite clear he has been in touch, talking with
the Leader of the Opposition. And I know, as the O pposition Leader said himself this morning, he has
talked to the caucus of the OBA, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, let me say this here, that any
plan you put i n place, whether it be in Bermuda, Uni ted States or the UK, you are not going to please ev erybody. That is just the way it is. But it does not stop
us from trying to please everybody, Mr. Speaker.
Let me say, Mr. Speaker, I forgot to say earl ier, that we pray for those who have been afflicted with
this virus. We hope they have a very speedy recovery, and let us get Bermuda back to where we should be.
Mr. Speaker, people have got to realise that
we must abide by the rules which are in place. The Premier has enunciated daily, people are dying. We
do not want that. And I suppose some people say,
Well, if people want to die, then they do what they
want to do. But that is not where we are as a Government. We want to save everybody regardless of
whether you hear or you cannot hear. So, Mr. Speaker, discipline is the key. And, you know, if you think
about years ago the older folks during World Wars I
and II, what they had to go through, we have so much
more than they had. But they subscribed to discipline.
They d id not have any television at home and computers and all that type of stuff. But they did what they were directed to do, and they came through it, Mr.
Speaker.
So I would just ask everybody . . . Let me say
this first. It appears to some if the Government says,
Let’s start this at one o’clock, some would say we
should have started at twelve- thirty. We should not do
that. If the Government says start at one, let us start
at one. And again, Mr. Speaker, we ask everybody to
practice discipline. Because if we practice discipline,
we can get out of this situation quicker than we env ision. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, there have been a number of
comments from Honourable Members. And so I will do
my best to answer them while keeping in time, recog-nising it is 11:50 and the motion that you passed at
the beginning limited this sitting to two hours. So I
want to ensure that I answer as many questions as
possible.
Mr. Speaker , I want to again pay tribute to you
for organising this. I think it has actually worked pretty well. And while this is a surprise that it has worked as
well as it has, I hope that people have been able to
listen and see Parliament at work.

Well, we are all under learning curves
under these conditions.
Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, sir.
I think that it is . . . I just want to start my
statements by saying that as someone who sat in the
House of Assembly for the first time in Opposition and was there for four and a half years, I recognise the
important value that the Opposition plays in a democracy. And holding the Government to account and
asking questions is what makes our democracy v ibrant and strong. And there is no way, shape or form that I will ever want to curtail that effort whatsoever. And so I welcome the scrutiny and I welcome the
questions of the Members of the Opposition, because
they may be questions that people certainly want answers to.
And I do also want to make sure that I am
quick with my reply today, as there is the second meeting this week with the Members of the Opposition
and officials for the Ministry of Health to go over further modelling information and to answer further questions of which they may have, which is actually
scheduled at twelve o’clock.
But what we are going to continue to do is we
are going to continue to give that information, and we
are going to continue to keep up that collaboration.
Because one of the things that is most important is
that, as we mov e past this phase of shelter in place,
and as we move into a new phase of long- term social
distancing, trying to get our tourism economy back, trying to make sure that our domestic economy is
sound and making sure that we stimulate investment,
we are going to need all hands rowing . . . or sorry, all
persons rowing in the same direction. And so from that particular perspective, Mr. Speaker, I am not g oing to admonish any Member of the Opposition for
asking their questions; I am going to do my best to
answer them.
I am going to turn over a new leaf as the
leader of this country, and I am going to try to engage
in the best bipartisanship that is possible as the leader of this country. And that is what I am going to do be3904 17 Apr il 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly cause that is what the people of this c ountry require
for us to get through this particular thing.

[Desk thumping]
Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you.
There was a question from Honourable Members regarding more help with contact tracing. I think
that came from the Shadow Minister of Health. Heal th
has been given the full resources that they do require, as the government itself is not closed, but government is working from home. Government departments and
additional resources have been given to the Ministry
of Health. I have told the Minister of H ealth that any
particular person whom she needs or requires she will
have. And so that is working particularly well.
As has been stated publicly, there is new
software that has been installed to make this contact
tracing more efficient. This afternoon I have a meeting
with Dennis Pitcher, who is marshalling public and
private sector resources in order to build one of the
apps for contact tracing, as we have seen in other
particular countries. And we are examining whether or
not we are going to use the Google/Facebook model
or build off of the open- source protocol that we have
for Singapore. So these are things which are also i mportant.
But what is key to note, Mr. Speaker, is that
widespread testing is the one thing that is going to
assist us in not only c ontact tracing, but isolation. And
so the Members speak about the fact that we need to
test more and isolate; that is correct. Now it is i mportant to note that this week we would have done far
more tests than we have done in the previous two
weeks combined. We have increased our testing c apacity. We were able to test all of the persons at Matilda Smith nursing home. We are increasing our c apacity to test front -line workers and persons in other
rest homes.
And I am not going to announce it today, because I am waiting for Dr. Carika Weldon to confirm,
the volume of testing, which she will be able to do. But
Dr. Carika Weldon is working to make sure that as of next week, we will be able to deliver 200 tests per
day. Now, this will be something that will be, hopefully,
very good. But we do not have the confirmation of that verification process yet. But that is what we are wor king towards, Mr. Speaker.
And I want us to recognise and to understand
that the only way that we are going to be able to cut
out the shel ter in place and make the economy work
is to make sure we have widespread testing. And as I
have indicated to Members, and as I indicated in my
opening speech, it has occupied the entirety of my
time, making sure that we can pull out the stops. I
cannot te ll you, Mr. Speaker, how frustrating it is for
there to be officials in certain places around the world
where you get a bill of lading and you expect that you
will have swabs on a shipment, and it gets to the ai r-port and it is not there, because someone ma y have
swiped it at the airport. That is just what happens. It is this type of stuff . . . not at the airport here, but at the
airport overseas. It is this type of stuff that gover nments are challenged with around the world.
However, I did inform members of the public,
and I am happy to inform Members of the Opposition
that on Wednesday night we received a shipment of
10,000 swabs. I think I actually told that to a person
inside of the meeting that we had on Wednesday, that
we got a shipment of 10,000 swabs. Those are being validated today, and hopefully they will work. We had
a shipment earlier this week or last week of 1,000
swabs. And we got our hopes up, and those ones did
not work. So it is something that we have to make
sure we validate and go through that particular pr ocess.
If those swabs get validated, we have the c apacity on Island right now, and with additional supplies
which are en route, to make sure that we continue an
aggressive testing regime. And it is at a minimum that
I expect for us to t est 500 persons next week. But I
expect that maybe we will be able to test more persons next week. And that I think is particularly i mportant.
There was a question about what is needed to
end the shelter in place. The shelter in place was
scheduled to end on May 2
nd. We had two complete
incubation cycles, or suppression. And after the shelter in place ends on May 2nd, it is likely that we will
revert. It is likely that we will revert back to where we
were prior to going to the shelter in place, where there
are going to be restrictions on retail, curbside pickup,
delivery, et cetera. So we are going to do it in a rolled-back and controlled fashion, followed thereafter ––if it
is safe to do so and if we see falling numbers that we
are managing to control the i nfections of which we
have, which we fully expect to do if we have a very
aggressive testing regime–– we will be able to start
opening other services like the government and schools as well. Because these are things that are
particularly important to make s ure we get our eco nomy back to full productivity.
During this particular point in time, as well, we
are making sure that we are bringing in PPE. There
are 600,000 surgical masks which are due to arrive in
Bermuda either today or on Monday. So these are
things of which we are certainly working on. And so
this is a process.
Members of the public and Members of the
Opposition have said that we need to have public and
private sector collaboration. We are doing that. I
asked the Leader of the Opposition for a Member to
join the Procurement Committee, of which we are setting up to help merge public sector and private sector
resources in this. And he has given a person to sit on that committee. So that is the type of leadership of which the Government is trying t o provide, recognising
that the only way that we are going to get through this


Bermuda House of Assembly as a country is if we use the collective talents of both
Government, Opposition, public sector, private sector,
work permit and Bermudians all together to make sure
that we can get through this particular situation.
Now again, Mr. Speaker, there were a lot of
questions about an extension of this state of emer-gency until the 30
th. The reason is, Mr. Speaker, that
we are anticipating (as I shared) that the peak of this
infection c urrently right now with the data that we have
will be with us until the late summer, September. And
in that particular case and instance, Mr. Speaker, as they are saying, you have to continually be able to
adjust. So if you reach a peak, a point where ther e are
more infections than you expect, there might be a
cluster that may have been undetected. It might be a
particular individual who manages to spread it to a lot
of persons. And you have a large outbreak. You will have to come back and control these thi ngs very
quickly.
And unfortunately, the only mechanism underneath our laws in Bermuda as they are currently constructed is the state of emergency and emergency
powers underneath the Emergency Powers Act 1963.
That is the reason why the Cabinet will be co nsidering
shortly, probably even on Tuesday, a paper to issue
drafting instructions for amending the Public Health
Act. It will be the most urgent Order of Business of which we are looking to get to when the House of A ssembly comes back on May 8
th so that we can go
ahead and get that done.
And as I have given Honourable Members the
undertaking here, and as I have given persons the undertaking of his Excellency the Governor, the m inute that we get those things through the House and
the Senate and into law, the Cabinet will ask the Governor to rescind his declaration of a state of emergency, as that will no longer be required as we will be
able to manage these things under the Public Health
law.
We are not expecting persons to stay in their
house after May 2
nd. We are expecting persons to follow the rules and laws as they are going to be laid out
at that point in time. But we have to have the ability in
order to make sure that we are flexible in the case of
an outbreak. We have seen that happen across the world, where they think that they might have to let up,
and they have to push back again. We do not want to
find ourselves in that predicament. And though I am a
great believer in the views in respect of Parliament, it is also particularly important, Mr. Speaker, to recognise and remember that inside of this effort there is an
incredible amount of work to do. And we are making
sure that we keep the Opposition informed at every
single point in time.
The final thing I will say is on the issue of tes ting. As I h ave said, Mr. Speaker, testing has not been
up to my ideal. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. So the incredible work that Dr. Desiree Spriggs
has done at Helix right now to this point, and our b e-ing able to bring on a second lab, which is going to the
verification PAHO as we speak, will get us to a point
where we are able to certainly ramp up our regime. We are in the top 25 per cent of testing around the
world, and we aim, by the end of next or the week fol-lowing, by the time we come off the shelter in place, to be in the top 10 per cent.
The policy of the Government is to aggressively test. We are going to use every resource at our disposal to make sure that we aggressively test. And I want to say that I believe that we will get there.
So in closing, Mr. Speaker, I want to echo the
sentiments of colleagues that this has been an incredibly difficult situation. I want to thank colleagues for
their support. I want to thank the Members of the O pposition for their questions. I want to give homage also not only to those on the front line, but also to extend the collective condolences of the Government
and the people of Bermuda to all those who have lost
lives, and those ones who are actually now battling
this particular infection.
We will get throu gh this as a country. And I do
believe, Mr. Speaker, that this debate has made us stronger and has helped the country to know and understand what it is we are facing and how it is that we
will get through it together. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Members, just for information, when we
take a vote in the House under a vote call, you know
we have a time limit for everybody to be able to get in
their seat to vote. And then once that time limit has
passed, you cannot vote if you are not in your seat.
It is similar here. There is a time limit for the
vote to be taken, and we are just letting that time limit
run its course right now as you indicate your desire.

[Pause and inaudible interjections]

3906 17 April 2020 Official Hansard Report
B ermuda House of Assembly Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Mr. Speaker, one or two on
our team are having a little difficulty finding the poll. If
you could bear with us a minute.

You should have . . . at the bottom of
your screen there are about six different circles. The second circle in from the right, the black circle with the three little dots . . . you click on that. It should open it
up for you.
Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: Mr. Sp eaker, once you submit, the poll question disappears. Maybe that . . .
[
Crosstalk]

If they have answered it, right. It will
disappear from your screen once you’ve answered it, and once all the results are in, I can send it all back to you.
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: If you look at the
polling with poll questions, all it says is that the vendor
has not shared the poll results. But for anybody who
has not seen the question, it is not showing what the question is, Mr. Speaker.

You should have gotten . . . before you
have seen . . . I have not shared the results. You
should have had the question first.
Hon. E. David Burt: Yes, Mr. Speaker, my Members
are voting.
Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Ours as well. I believe it is
only one person who may be having difficulty. But all of ours are . . .

Okay. And it looks like the yeses have
outdone the noes. So the motion has passed. And the
motion, again, is as follows:
BE IT RESOLVED that, pursuant to section
14(6) of the Constitution, that this Honourable House
approves the continua tion of the state of emergency
until 6:00 am on the 30th of June 2020; and the co ntinuance of the Regulations until 6:00 am on the 2nd of
May 2020, pursuant to section 18(2) of the Emergency Powers (C OVID -19 Shelter in Place) Regulations
2020.
[Motion carried by majority: The House of Assembly
resolved to continue the state of emergency to 30
June 2020 and the Emergency Powers (COVID-1 9
Shelter in Place) Regulations 2020 to 2 May 2020.]

Members, I want to thank you for your
participation this morning on this historic occasion for us to be able to meet under these conditions of shel-tering in place and social distancing, where we have been able to exercise the virtual space platform. And I
sincerely appreciate all of us for the effort to get i t to
make it work for us today.
There have been a few stumbling blocks. But I
am sure that as we, if we are called upon to use it
more or during this period we will improve our performance on it as time goes on.
Again, to the listening public, I want to thank
you for once again tuning in and bearing with us as we work down through the process of making this session possible for you today via this virtual space.
I just want to close by encouraging each
member of the public to practice the safety measures that are in place, as it is for each of us to carry our own responsibility in ensuring that this virus does not spread. Because it only takes one of us to ignore the process, and we could be that one person who is spreading it around our community and causing death
to others. Please, please —I cannot say it enough
times to our public , please—practice proper safety
precautions.

With that, Members, I think we stand
adjourned right now until May 8; otherwise, we [might] need to come back should there be a need, under the
emergency of the virus, to come back. But at this moment, the House now stands adjourned.
Hon. Michael J. Scott: Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker,
with the leave of Mr. Speaker, Michael Scott.


Bermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: Yes?

Hon. Michael J. Scott: Mr. Speaker, the Clerk has
just indicated that we need to move a motion to send
a message to the Governor.