Senator Le Fondré, speaking during an hour-long press conference, also revealed more information about the Island’s Covid-19 cases, bringing Jersey closer in line with Guernsey and the Isle of Man.
And he announced that up to 2,000 people could be given antibody testing by the end of this week.
The Senator revealed that 118 Islanders – just under half the number who have tested positive for Covid-19 (249) – were reported to have fully recovered.
The average age of those who have recovered is 45, while the average age of everyone who has tested positive is 54.
Of the total number of people infected so far, 42% are male and 58% are female. A total of 63 Islanders were being treated at the General Hospital, 14 of whom had tested positive for Covid-19, while there were 134 vacant beds, equating to an occupancy rate of 32%.
Two more deaths were announced yesterday, raising Jersey’s total so far to 14.
Speaking about how and when the Island could return to some form of normality, Senator Le Fondré said that a number of officers had been tasked with working on a lockdown exit strategy, which is likely to be published at the end of the month.
It comes as other countries, including Germany and Spain, begin to loosen restrictions.
He said: ‘I have instructed officials to look ahead and to start to focus on our strategy for when health officials can recommend the lifting of restrictions.
‘It is to put the flesh onto the bones of where we are, and look at the financial position and what economic measures we may need to consider to help the Island when we come out of lockdown.
‘On the release of the lockdown it will be discussed by the Council of Ministers this week with input from medical professionals.
‘You will have seen some countries around the world have already begun to lift restrictions. That actually reflects the position that Jersey is in today.
‘We started introducing measures relative to the UK pretty quickly. For example, from the first positive case to when we brought social-distancing in and then brought everyone in [to lockdown], we have moved pretty quickly relatively quickly compared to other jurisdictions.And on antibody testing, the Chief Minister confirmed 50,000 tests from one source had arrived, and reliability testing was under way on other kits ahead of 3,000 possible tests this week.
He added: ‘Subject to the evaluation on the testing kits by the end of this week, we could be able to test 1,000 to 2,000 people and in a position by the end of the following week to evaluate that data.’
The Chief Minister also said information coming from GPs suggested they are seeing more symptomatic cases than they predicted and he remained cautious about the number of deaths so far.
He also revealed that if the 180-bed Nightingale Hospital became overwhelmed then there was capacity for 60 more to be put in place.
Beyond that, the government has had discussions with the UK and France about aiding with bed capacity if Jersey experienced a worst-case scenario.
He also hit back at some of the Island’s politicians for accusing his administration of holding back the truth on certain Covid-19 elements.
He added: ‘Politicians love to suggest we have two versions of the truth. We have one version and we try to put it out there as much as we can.’
