Bimini Resort Linked to Recent COVID-19 Spike

After a lull in COVID-19 cases on Bimini, the island is again seeing a spike in infections, which health officials believe is linked to a major resort on the island.

Minister of Health Renward Wells told reporters on Tuesday that a surveillance team was dispatched to the island to investigate the recent jump in cases there.

Though he did not identify the links to the new cases on the island, health officials said on Sunday that the cases “indicate evidence of clustering that is linked to a local resort”.

The report did not identify the resort, but speculations arose that the Resorts World Bimini may have been the source of the new cases.

When contacted by the Nassau Guardian, the resort did not respond to reports of the spike at the resort only to say that it has implemented measures to ensure the safety of its team members, community, and its guests and to prevent the spread of the virus.

“Although progress has been made in reducing the spread of the disease, it is far from over. Now is not the time to let our guard down,” the resort’s Vice President of Human Resources David Winslow said.

On condition of anonymity, one of its newest recruits told CSJ Report that she was set to begin work at the resort on Monday, but the Resorts World Bimini delayed her employment due to the rise in COVID cases.

The woman said she was told that the resort made changes to the living arrangements as a result of the spike in cases, as employees usually shared housing.

Employees were placed in individual housing to prevent clusters.

The woman said the resort told her that she would be able t begin employment in about two weeks.

The big picture

Six new COVID-19 cases were confirmed on Monday, bringing the total number of cases on that island to 166.

Bimini was the first island to be placed on lockdown last year when COVID-19 cases roared in the country.

The country’s first COVID-19 related death was a woman from that island.