HAMILTON, Bermuda (CMC) — Bermuda’s COVID-19 death toll has risen to 10 after an unnamed victim died on Saturday as health officials recorded 20 new cases of COVID-19 islandwide.

“It is with a heavy heart that I release today’s COVID-19 statistics. The loss of another Bermudian’s life to COVID-19 will come as devastating news to our entire community, and our hearts go out to the loved ones of the deceased during this extremely difficult time,” said Health Minister Kim Wilson.

“Christmas is supposed to be an occasion for joy, for family and for hope — something which makes news of this loss all the more hard to bear. I am urging the entire island to please not underestimate the ferocity of this virus. It doesn’t care who you are — young, old, black, white, rich, or poor,” she added.

Saturday’s death was the first linked to COVID-19, since May.

The 20 new cases, pushing the total up to 581, were among 2,460 results delivered to health officials since the last update before Christmas.

The new cases included a resident who arrived on the British Airways (BA) flight from London on Wednesday, another was non-resident off the Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta on the same day, while one was a non-resident who arrived on the BA flight on December 17.

Thirteen of the new cases were classed as on-island transmission with a known contact or linked to known cases or clusters.

The remaining four new cases, all among people with no known links to identified cases or recent overseas travel, are under investigation.

There are 177 active cases, with 172 of them being monitored by health officials.