April 6, 2020

2018/2020 SESSION
of the
BERMUDA SENATE
OFFICIAL HANSARD REPORT
6 April 2020
EMERGENCY SITTING
Sitting 32 of the 2018/2020 Session
(pages 883–888)
Sen. The Hon. Joan E. Dillas -Wright, MBE, JP
President
Disclaimer: The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for
informational purposes only. The printed version remains the official
record.

Official Hansard Report 6 April 2020 883
B ermuda Senate BERMUDA SENATE
OFFICIAL HANSARD REPORT
6 APRIL 2020
12:0 6 pm
Sitting Number 32 of the 201 8/2020 Session
EMERGENCY SITTING
By Proclamation of the Governor per section 14 (4) of the Constitution
[
Sen. the Hon. Joan E. Dillas -Wright, President, pr e-
siding]
The President: Good afternoon, Senators. The Sen-
ate is in session; shall we pray?
PRAYERS
[
Prayers read by Sen. the Hon. Joan E. Dillas -Wright,
President]
ANNOUNCEMENT S BY THE PRESIDENT
SENATE VISITORS
The President: And Senators, before we proceed
further, I would just like to acknowledge the presence
of the Speaker [of the House] Mr. Dennis Lister , Jr., in
the Chamber; as well as to acknowledge the presence of the new A ssistant Clerk , Ms. Kara Beale. Welcome
to you.
COVID -19—EXTENSION OF PROCLAMATION OF
EMERGENCY
The President: Senators, I would just like to make a
statement here.
Good afternoon to you, again. You will note by
the Order Paper today that we meet at the request of the Governor, His Excellency John Rankin, who, in accordance with [Schedule 2, Chapter I,] section 14(4)
of the Constitution declared a state of emergency in
Bermuda on April 1, 2020.
This special sitting is to address one item only
and that is a motion to extend the state of emergency to April 18, 2020.
It has been agreed that, following the motion ,
brief remarks will be made by Senator Kathy Lynn Simmons, the Attorney General and Government Leader in the Senate, as well as Senator Marcus Jones, the Opposition Leader in the Senate, and m y-
self on behalf of Independent Senators.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
We will move on then to item 5 on your Order
Paper, wh ich is the announcement. Senator Kathy Lynn Simmons, Attorney Ge n-
eral, you have the floor.
Se
n. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President, and good afternoon.
The President: Good afternoon.
ANNOUNCEMENT
PROCLAMATION OF EMERGENCY
Se
n. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Madam Pres i-
dent, I hereby present for the information of Senate
the Proclamation of Emergency issued by His Excel-
lency the Governor on 1 April 2020 declaring that a state of emergency exists in Bermuda regarding COVID -19.
Madam President, please allow me to also
give notice that under Orders of the Day I will move
that the Senate resolve to extend the continuance of
the Proclamation of Emergency to April 18, 2020.
The President: Thank you, Senator Kathy Lynn Si m-
mons, Attorney General .
ORDERS OF THE DAY
The President: We will move on to the Orders of the
Day.
Kathy Lynn Simmons, Attorney General , you
have the floor.
MOTION
EXTENSION OF GOVERNOR’S PROCLAMATION
OF EMERGENCY TO 18 APRIL 2020
Se
n. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President.
I move that the Senate do now take under
consideration the following resolution:
WHEREAS the World Health Organization
has declared COVID -19 to be a global pandemic;
884 6 April 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate AND WHEREAS COVID -19 is an unprec e-
dented and severe threat to public health in Bermuda;
AND WHEREAS a proclamation of a state of
emergency existing in Bermuda has been issued and
gazetted by His Excellency the Governor pursuant to section 14(3) of the Constitution;
BE IT RESOLVED that, pursuant to section
14(6) of the Constitution, this Senate approves the
extension of the continuance of the said Proclamation
of Emergency to 18
th April 2020.
If I may, Madam President, give my remarks
at this time?

The President: Yes.

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you.
Madam President, the motion before the Se n-
ate is an administrative one. The Proclamation of
Emergency takes effect from the time it is made and is
for 14 days unless its duration is extended by a res o-
lution passed by both Houses of the Legislature.
The Governor, having signed it on the 1st of
April, Senators will have noted in subsequent Regul a-
tions that the state of emergency therefore ceases to
have effect on the 15th of April. To accord with the
Public Health advice of a 14- day shelter in place for
proper impact on restricting community transmission,
and having come into force on the 4th of April, I am
inviting the Senate to join with the House of Assembly
to extend the state of emergency through to 6:00 am
on 18th April.
This, Madam President, will achieve the full
14-day shelter in place intended by this action.
Separate and apart from the public health bat-
tle in which we are engaged, Madam President, this crisis has torn away the veneer of the very real social
issues which exist in our community. There is a fragil i-
ty to the emotional and economic lives of our people
that an event of this nature lays bare for all to see.
Concurrent with the public health pandemic
response, Madam President, this Government has
been compelled to shore up the social safety net to
provide for basic needs like food and medicine. Where
business has understandably had to take steps to
lessen the impact of their obligations so that they have
a greater chance of survival, we have done the same to ensure the survival of our citizens.
Madam President, the people are those who
we serve. We have and we will continue to discharge
our responsibility to them through the unemployment benefit. In this effort we have been joined by numer-
ous corporate entities who have complied with having
their employees working remotely and have contribut-
ed to the massive effort to keep people fed and cared
for during these times. They deserve our sincere
thanks.
Madam President, the Premier has regularly
called for unity , and I join him in doing s o. But more
than political unity, we need a cohesive community -minded approach to what will inevitably be with us
when this pandemic ends. People will be displaced,
and we must be united in putting things back together.
This means that social distancing can only be a phys i-
cal restraint, while the opposite is called for in our
mentality now and in the future. Just as we have been
forced to radically shift our everyday lives to fight this
pandemic, we must be equally as radical in addres s-
ing the social divide that it has revealed.
Madam President, in the midst of the First
World War the people of the United Kingdom were
shocked at the condition of the young people drafted
into fighting. Although it would be another 25 years
until they would see a National Health Service, the
seeds for that shift in public policy was sown once the
true extent of the problem was seen. We will not have
decades to address our issues. We must do so with urgency and with the same unity that we are now see-
ing.
Madam President, I echo the thanks of the
Premier to my colleague, the Minister of Health, and
her entire team who continue to work every day to
provide the most effective public health response to
this pandemic.
Madam President, in commending this motion
to the Senate, I urge the people of Bermuda to follow
the rules and the guidelines which have been impl e-
mented for the well -being of us all. We are in extraor-
dinary times taking extraordinary measures , and, as
such , we must act in extraordinary ways.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Kathy Lynn Si m-
mons, Attorney General and Government Leader in
the Senate.
We now turn to Senator Marcus Jones, Opp o-
sition Leader in the Senate, you have the floor.

Sen. Marcus Jones: Good afternoon, Madam Pres i-
dent—

The President: Good afternoon to you.

Sen. Marcus Jones: —to my fellow Senators and to
the listening audience.
It is with a heavy heart that I address this
Senate Chamber today , knowing that throughout the
world many people have fallen to an untimely death in
this disastrous pandemic, namely, the c oronavirus
epidemic.
Bermuda has not been able to avoid this di s-
astrous plague, and so this Government has had to
take emergency action to protect its residents from its
deadly impact. So much so that the Governor has had
to declare that Bermuda is officially in a state of emer-gency. This proclamation by the Governor is meant to
slow down the rate of transference of this virus to our fellow citizens in the hopes that medical advances in
Official Hansard Report 6 April 2020 885

Bermuda Senate the form of antiviral dr ugs and vaccines can be readily
available for those infected.
We, the Opposition, see its urgency and i m-
portance, so, although a question period has not been
allowed in this session, we will continue to raise ques-tions and offer advice to the Government i n an alter-
native form as this requires a unified endeavour by
both parties. In addition, we impress upon the exec u-
tives within the Legislature to make available the facil i-
ty for parliamentarians to conduct their meetings wit h-
out having to physically gather in one place. The ad-
vancement of telecommunications has made this pos-
sible, and if this crisis accelerates our plans to meet
remotely it would be a good thing.
Madam President, we encourage the Premier
and his Cabinet colleagues and team of medical pr o-
fessionals to continue their daily briefings. It is i m-
portant that the public be informed on a daily basis about the status of persons infected by the c orona-
virus , the medical devices and testing kits that are
available , and to be reminded of the guidelines being
put in place for the health and safety of all residents.
A useful tool , which has not been included in
these daily briefings , is coronavirus modelling specific
to Bermuda. The benefit of this modelling gives the health care professional and the untr ained layman a
picture of the best - and worst -case scenarios of the
trajectory of the impact of this virus on a particular geographical region, depending on how its citizens
respond in behaviour that can alter its progression.
It has been observed that countries that r e-
sponded quickly to the forecasted results of this mod-elling have been able to flatten the curve of the num-ber of infected persons. It is not an exact science, but
can be proven to change the fortunes of a region in a
positive manner. If the Government can shine light on
their ability to gather the data to produce this valuable
tool, it will be extremely helpful.
Only history will be able to record and doc u-
ment the tragedy of this event as we experience this
pause in our daily lives. But rather than fall into the
depths of despair, every man, woman and child in this
country can do their part to combat this invisible ene-my, COVID -19, by changing their behaviour —how we
interact with one another and how we practice per-sonal hygiene; how we conduct our lives moving for-
ward, not only during this crisis, but, indeed, as a
permanent change, as a meaningful response.
We must, as a country, extend our appreci a-
tion to the men and women who are categorised as
critical workers involved in conducting essential ser-
vices that keep this country operating. Special thanks to: all health care workers in the hospital, clinics,
health care facilities and pharmacies; employees at
the grocery stores, banks, gas stations; shipping and
courier business es; and civil servants who are part of
the essential service group; all uniformed service men
and women, police, fire, correction, Regiment, Cus-
toms, and licensed security officers; persons providing emergency services involving industries such as util i-
ties, w ater truckers, telecommunications, plumbing
and electrical; to the Governor and his staff; to Me m-
bers of the Legislature and staff; to the US Consul and
staff; and the members and staff of the Judiciary.
Madam President, I would also like to under-
score wha t has been proclaimed by the Governor t o-
day and implore that every resident of these Islands to
comply to the terms of this shelter in place edict,
which is to remain at your home day and night for the next 14 days.
Resist the temptation to leave your hom e on
non-essential business. Resist the temptation to e n-
gage in panic buying as there are enough supplies in the grocery stores. Practice social distancing and fr e-
quent washing of the hands. Take advantage of this time to spend quality time with your famil y members.
For parents and guardians, engage your children in
some form of academic activity. Find ways to keep in
contact with our seniors which do not violate the she l-
ter in place regulations. Be mindful of fellow shoppers
at those businesses deemed essential by being eff i-
cient and polite.
Madam President, finally, it is important that
we as a country turn our attention to how we move
forward once this pandemic has run its course.
Healthwise, once this shelter in place practice ceases
to be the common occ urrence, we still need to make a
habit of the amped- up personal hygiene guidelines
that ha ve been required of us. We must ensure that
there is enough health and safety equipment for our health care professionals, and equipment on hand to service our people who will need hospital care during
a time such as this.
Economically, the engine of business activity,
which is the private sector, must reposition itself to
ramp up its operations quickly and rebuild with an eye
to creating safety nets to carry them in times when
markets are shut down. For the last few weeks , and
for the foreseeable future, this has been a gover n-
ment -driven economy , and no government has an
inexhaustible amount within the public purse to un-derwrite the cost to keep its country solvent. O ther
jurisdictions are looking to create a taskforce focused on preparing both the private and the public sector for the end of this pandemic —a move that we suggest
the Government take on board as life, especially wit h-
in business, will not be the same.
Madam President, we are purveyors of hope
today —hope for a day when this COVID -19 pandemic
will cease to grip this world in fear ; hope that we who
live on these Islands will return to a level of normalcy
once enjoyed; hope that businesses will recover from
this disruption and be able to recover ; hope that we
will be able to gather in groups again to enjoy the
practice of social bonding that is an integral part of humanity.
Thank you, Madam President.

886 6 April 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate The President: Thank you, Senator Jones.
Senators and the listening audience, I will just
say a few words on behalf of the Independent Sen a-
tors.
I would like to state that we are in full support
of the Governor and the Premier’s request for exten d-
ing the state of emergency in Bermuda to April 18,
2020 , which, al though it abrogates some of the fun-
damental rights and freedoms of the individual, we
believe is in the best interests of Bermuda at this time.
We agree that this pandemic COVID -19 virus
is real, insidious , and presents a major threat to Ber-
muda and its people. We have observed the devast a-
tion and the impact on health services in other coun-tries and jurisdictions around the world, including our neighbours to the south. We are also mindful of the
fact that we have one hospital, which could be quickly
overw helmed by large numbers of people requiring
medical and/or critical care. Additionally, we would not
be able to readily secure the large numbers of addi-
tional health care personnel that would be required.
Bermuda also has a high percentage of elder-
ly peo ple who have worked hard to provide the stand-
ard of living that we all enjoy today. And the society
has a responsibility to provide protection for them,
especially in their senior years. Society also has a
responsibility to those who have chronic illnesses ,
such as diabetes, hypertension, and renal disease,
which is relatively high on this I sland. These groups
have been reported to be particularly vulnerable to the
coronavirus. We need to do everything in our power to
protect them.
This is a time for Bermudians to be more sup-
portive, helpful, and friendly to one another. And we
can do this in so many ways while maintaining our
social distance through the use of the telephone and
the various social media. This is important because
this is a very stressf ul and emotive time for many.
They need to be encouraged and told that this, too, shall pass. Some may need to be advised not to
watch so much of the television, but to take up other
pursuits, to relax and enjoy their families and the time
that they have.
The World Health Organization and the Cen-
ters for Disease Control [and Prevention] in Atlanta have reported that social distance is currently the most effective way to slow the spread of COVID -19
and that additional measures must include: the wea r-
ing of protective gear, such as masks; regular and
frequent washing of hands; and the prolific use of
hand sanitiser. We certainly encourage and support
that strongly.
The latest statistics point to the fact that we
now have 37 positive confirmed cases, 6 of whic h are
hospitalised. And we would not like to see this number increase.
The government website is replete with infor-
mation, guidelines and recommendations of how we can stop the spread of this virus and return to a more normal existence far sooner than [ if] we choose to
ignore them. So, we encourage everyone living on this
Island to avail themselves of this information and to
pull together and support this Government as we
strive to both control and beat this horrific virus.
In closing, we would like to thank all who have
been at the forefront working to keep us all safe: first
the Governor ; the Premier and his Cabinet, especially
the Minister of Health and the Minister of National S e-
curity; the Chief Medical Officer [CMO] and her team,
who have been leading from the front for several
weeks, providing regular updates; the MPs and Opp o-
sition Members and Senators; and we thank all health
care workers, support staff at both the Health Depar t-
ment and the h ospital; and the many organisations
who go out of their way to help support individuals in
the community with food and whatever else they may
require; the teachers who are providing home school;
and the individuals who go out of their way to keep
Bermuda running . And we cannot forget the Police
[Service] and the R egiment and so many of the uni-
formed services who really do so much to support us
during this difficult time.
Everyone has a role to play in combatting this
COVID -19 pandemic. Therefore, we implore everyone
in Bermuda to follow the guidelines that have bee n put
forward by this Premier and his team.
Thank you.
We now move on to the next Order of Day,
Senator Kathy Lynn Simmons, Attorney General , you
have the floor.

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President.
And I would, firstly, like to thank yourself and
the Opposition spokesman for your remarks in support
of the Government as we continue to diligently a d-
dress the legislative, health, financial and social i s-
sues surrounding this public health crisis.
The remarks by the Opposition Senator that
they will continue to ask questions, we welcome con-structive questions surrounding this issue because it
enables us to also think outside the box. We aim as a
Government to ensure that we work collaboratively as
legislators. And the CMO and her team will continue
to gather and assess the data and provide daily press briefings to provide the essential information that is
necessary to the public.
And Madam President, before I close, I would
like to give special acknowledgement to the hidden
heroes of this exercise, namely, the Chief Parliamen-
tary Counsel Cathryn Balfour Swain and her team
who have worked tirelessly to produce the legislation
and the proclamations associated with this exercise.
And also, to the Solicitor General and Crown Counsel
in my Chambers who provide continuous advice to the
Government as we continue to make decisions around this issue.
Official Hansard Report 6 April 2020 887

Bermuda Senate With that, Madam President, I move that the
said Resolution be approved and that the following
message be sent to His Excellency the Governor:
“May it please your Excellency, the Senate,
having had under consideration a Resolution for the extension of the continuance of the Proclamation of
Emergency issued on 1
st April 2020 by your Excellen-
cy, declaring a state of emergency in Bermuda r e-
garding COV ID-19 to 18th April 2020, pursuant to sec-
tion 14(6) of the Constitution, has the honour to inform
your Excellency that the Senate has approved the said Resolution. ”

The President: Is there any objection to the m otion?
No objection.
The motion is approved.

[Motion carried: The Senate resolved to extend the
Governor’s proclamation of emergency to the 18
th of
April 2020.]

The President: Thank you, Senator Kathy Lynn Si m-
mons.
We now move on to Adjournment.

ADJOURNMENT

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Sim mons: Thank you,
Madam President.
I move that the Senate do now adjourn to
Wednesday, May 20th.

The President: Thank you.
With that, Senators, the Senate stands ad-
journed until May 20, 2020.
Thank you.

[At 12:2 8 pm, the Senate stood adjourned until
10:00 am, Wednesday, 20 May 2020.]

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