The continued pause delaying the reopening nightclubs, and easing of restrictions on standing drinks service and domestic gatherings is among a series of measures aimed at suppressing the current third wave of infections, while also achieving a ‘balance of harms’, according to the government.
There were yesterday 3,109 active cases – 179 new cases and 158 people recovered – and there were 12,556 direct contacts.
Those who are isolating – for any reason – will be allowed to take up to two hours of exercise daily, while changes are also taking place to the vaccination programme and the procedure for booking tests – as well as the ‘voluntary maximisation’ of working from home.
At a press conference yesterday evening, Chief Minister John Le Fondré said the government wanted to give some certainty to businesses by confirming that the final stage of reconnection would be on hold until at least 31 August.
Jersey’s largest music festival, Weekender, takes place in early September.
Senator Le Fondré said: ‘We are aiming to minimise harm and maximise personal responsibility as we continue adjusting our response to every twist and turn of this pandemic.
‘We want to suppress the spread of the virus to keep our Island running and to ensure our health service can continue to look after those people who need medical care. We still need to flatten the curve and reduce the rise in active cases, while also having consideration for those who are having to isolate during the summer. We do not want to legislate unnecessarily and would prefer to trust Islanders to make sensible decisions, encouraging their sense of responsibility for themselves and others.’
At a press briefing earlier in the day, the government’s director of public health policy, Alex Khaldi, said there were some signs that there could be a levelling-off of case numbers, but that it was too soon to say whether or not the numbers might subsequently rise again.
‘We need to have seen a sharp decline in the curve during August – we want to avoid yo-yoing between different levels of restrictions and to be ready for winter, when we know other viruses are likely to be a factor,’ he said.
Mr Khaldi added that while hospitalisation figures remained low, there was a ‘lag’ between case numbers and hospitalisation of approximately ten days, indicating more Islanders may be requiring hospital treatment by the end of July.
As part of the aim to balance harms to wellbeing and mental health caused by isolation with the effect of having the virus, those isolating will be permitted to go outside for up to two hours daily, but must follow strict guidelines, including not visiting shops or other retail outlets.
Those who are direct contacts will receive ‘strong advice’ about lower-risk activities that will reduce the risk of transmission, while critical infrastructure workers such as bus drivers and those based at air traffic control will have daily lateral flow tests from Monday.
Deputy medical officer of health Dr Ivan Muscat highlighted differences between the effectiveness of vaccination against symptomatic disease between the Alpha and Delta variant, with around 35% protection against Delta after one dose, but 79% after two doses. (The comparable Alpha figures being 49% and 89% respectively).
As a result there is a drive to boost the vaccination programme, with the interval between doses cut to the minimum of four weeks – this will enable 1,800 second doses to be brought forward, while it is hoped the option for drop-in vaccination, available every day next week, will also have a positive effect.
Dr Muscat said vaccines had a very similar rate of effectiveness against hospitalisation for both Alpha and Delta variants, with 80% protection against Delta after a single dose and 96% for those double-vaccinated.
Employers have been asked to use their judgment in determining which members of their workforce are able to work from home, with the government seeking meetings with larger businesses in order to offer guidance on this front.
It should now possible for those who need to book PCR tests to do so online, with the new facility due to have been introduced yesterday evening.
Although there had been rumours circulating during this week regarding some form of lockdown measures or a hospitality circuit-breaker, the Chief Minister confirmed there were no current plans for this, with the benefits of vaccination enabling a less restrictive approach based on individuals and businesses taking personal responsibility rather than face mandatory measures.
