Deputy Medical Officer of Health Dr Ivan Muscat provided the latest fortnightly report to the Health Minister on 11 June, recommending no change to the law before results of the move to Level 2 of exit strategy are known. The report was made public yesterday.
There has been increasing pressure in both Jersey and the UK, led by businesses looking to kickstart the economy, to reduce the distance, with many jurisdictions having adopted a one-metre limit, and others opting for 1½ metres.
Dr Muscat said: ‘During this early phase of our entry into Level 2, it is recommended that the current safe-distancing regulations and associated offences are maintained. It is anticipated that, if Covid-19 cases remain low, physical distancing could be reduced to one metre and the associated offences relaxed.’
Health Minister Richard Renouf said: ‘When we introduced Level 2 measures on 12 June, we relaxed some of the measures introduced to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
‘While I am keen to get back to as normal a way of life as possible, we must take care to look after Islanders’ health and wellbeing as we proceed through the safe-exit programme.
‘I am pleased to see that, while there has been a small increase in the number of known active cases, this is to be expected with an increase in testing capacity.’
‘Dr Muscat anticipates that, if rates remain low, we may be able to move to one-metre distancing after the next report.’
The next report will be presented by 25 June at the latest.
- Jersey’s tally of active Covid-19 cases dropped by one in the latest daily update, which was provided yesterday. There are now four people in the Island known to have coronavirus, one of whom is being treated at the General Hospital. A further 131 test results – all of them negative – were registered since the previous day’s figure, taking the total number of completed tests to 11,177.
