HAMILTON, Bermuda, (CMC) — Police Commissioner Stephen Corbishley has said anyone who refuses to stick to Bermuda’s recently introduced mandatory supervised quarantine rules will be “detained, arrested and prosecuted”.

His warning at the Government’s Tuesday night media briefing on COVID-19 came as it was announced that a couple at the centre of a quarantine storm were scheduled to appear in Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

The unvaccinated parents, Sophia Cannonier and Michael Watson, were served with a summons to appear in court via Zoom to face charges of breaching the quarantine requirements. Up to press time there was no word from the court.

Unvaccinated travellers — locals and tourists — have to pay for their 14-day stay at a Government-appointed hotel. So far, 149 travellers have been quarantined, according to National Security Minister Renee Ming.

The Opposition One Bermuda Alliance (OBA) has called on the Progressive Labour Party (PLP) Government to scrap the quarantine policy.

The authorities said 33 people have died from COVID-19 in Bermuda where 63 per cent of the population have now been fully vaccinated. Although the island has recorded more than 2,500 COVID-19 cases, only 11 are currently active.

Corbishley said there would not be a repeat of Sunday’s events when the couple and their two children walked past buses taking unvaccinated individuals to Government-appointed hotels and went home after arriving at the airport from England.

“There was a plan on Sunday, and that plan did not work, and that allowed a family to leave the airport,” Corbishley said. But he took a tough line on breaches on regulations going forward, saying procedures had been reviewed.

“If someone does not agree or refuses to comply with the quarantine process, then there is a quite clear regulation which results in detention, arrest and prosecution.”

He said it was “widely known” more people intended to ignore the quarantine requirements, adding “whilst I regret Sunday, I am satisfied that we are back in place”.

Premier David Burt took a similarly strong stance, saying: “This weekend we saw a planned and deliberate breach of the law which to date has gone unenforced.

“Let me be clear. The Government policy requiring supervised hotel quarantine of unvaccinated travellers is unchanged and the expectation is that the law will be enforced. I wish to leave no doubt in the minds of others who may take it upon themselves to test our resolve,” Burt added.