Yesterday evening, ministers announced that – other than Christmas visits and end-of-life care – care homes will be closed until residents have been vaccinated, as people need to be free from infection in order to receive the jab. The measures come into force today and will remain in place until the week beginning 11 January, when the second dose of the vaccine is expected to arrive.
The vaccine rollout programme is anticipated to start next week in Jersey.
The number of active cases in the Island has spiked in recent days, with 536 known active cases recorded last night. A total of 23 people are in hospital – six more than the previous day.
A hospitality ‘circuit breaker’ was announced last week, with pubs, bars, restaurants and gyms all ordered to close in a bid to flatten Jersey’s infection rate.
Meanwhile, additional support packages have been confirmed for businesses hit financially by the pandemic.
The Co-Funded Payroll Scheme has been revised to allow up to 80% of salaries to be recouped. The previous maximum was 60%. Eligible businesses can apply if they can demonstrate a loss in income of at least 20% compared to the same period the previous year. The revised scheme will open from 1 January.
And a further support package for visitor attractions and the events industry was confirmed, with subsidies up to 80% of firms’ designated fixed costs incurred over the winter period. The subsidy will be paid to applicants who can show a 50% reduction in turnover in the last year, when compared to the monthly average turnover in 2019.
Economic Development Minister Lyndon Farnham said: ‘The improved terms, and amended schemes, that we are introducing today will allow us to continue to protect jobs and focus our support on the businesses that have been most impacted by the pandemic as we move through the winter months.
‘The Co-Funded Payroll Scheme has already supported thousands of jobs and helped hundreds of businesses to stay solvent during the outbreak of Covid-19, so it is important that the scheme remains flexible to ensure we continue to provide the appropriate levels of payroll support.
‘I am also pleased to be able to announce the launch of the Attractions and Events Scheme, which is aimed at supporting these important businesses to ensure that they can survive through the winter and are well placed to provide essential support to the visitor economy as it recovers in 2021.
‘We are currently working on further support for the hospitality, and health and fitness sectors, which remain closed.’
Treasury Minister Susie Pinel added that the measures would ‘help to safeguard the employment and livelihoods of the workers that are affected’.
