To date, four people in Jersey have been tested for the deadly disease, which is believed to have originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan and has so far led to more than 1,000 deaths in the country.
Tests on two Jersey residents have returned negative results, while a further two people are expecting results later this week.
Health Minister Richard Renouf said that government, through its emergency planning measures, could quickly put actions in place to reduce the risk to Islanders but that there was no present need to do so.
This week the UK government declared the coronavirus outbreak a ‘serious and imminent threat’ to public health and announced new powers which ensure that NHS staff dealing with possible cases can keep people in forced isolation if it is thought there could be a reasonable risk they could spread the disease.
Deputy Renouf said similar plans were not currently in place in Jersey.
‘I think the whole of government needs to have the ability to protect the population in that event [that there is an outbreak],’ he said.
‘There is very good planning for emergencies and I am sure if there was anything more that we needed it would come up to the emergency council.
‘We are drawing on UK and NHS advice and I think we just have to see how that develops. The last thing we want to do is generate fear and panic when it is not necessary.’
He added: ‘There are officer groups handling this on a strategic basis. It is not necessary because we have had no cases in Jersey. The option is there but it is not under active consideration at this time.’
In Guernsey seven people have been tested for the virus. Four tested negative and the remaining three people are awaiting results. Meanwhile, in the UK there have been eight confirmed cases of the coronavirus.
The advice issued by the Health and Community Services Department to Islanders who suspect they may have coronavirus is not to go to the Hospital’s Emergency Department unannounced. Anyone who has arrived in Jersey from mainland China should self-isolate for two weeks, whether or not they have any flu-like symptoms.
In addition, anyone who has recently visited mainland China, Thailand, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia or Macau and who develops a cough, fever or shortness of breath should self-isolate and contact their GP. Anyone with such symptoms who feels very unwell should call an ambulance and give their travel history.
