Hundreds of businesses are to open again as the Island enters the next phase of the government’s reconnection strategy, to ease the Island out of the Covid-19 restrictions imposed before Christmas.
Shops had been due to reopen on Wednesday [27 January] but a cluster of cases cases among staff working for a retail sector supplier has led to the opening date being pushed back to 3 February at the earliest.
During a Chamber of Commerce webinar yesterday, Marc Hurst, environmental health consultant, called on Islanders to take a ‘softly, softly’ approach to returning to shops.
‘If we all go en masse at 9am to the shops, there will be risks. I think businesses in the Island are pretty responsible and know what they should be doing,’ he said.
‘It’s about managing people. The public tend to forget they are in a shop and get excited and this is to generally remind people about social distancing.
‘We have all seen this in supermarkets where entry is controlled and then people bunch together inside, without keeping separate. Wearing a mask is essential as is following good hygiene and hand-sanitising.’
During the session, Martin Knight, head of public health policy, said that the reopening of the Island’s gyms and hospitality sector was still under review.
‘It’s something ministers are looking at at the moment. We are looking at risk as to whether different sectors are linked to outbreaks,’ he said.
‘We’ll be looking at a range of factors such as the likelihood that there might be shared air in that environment or the likelihood of there being increasing contact.
‘There might an opportunity, for example, with hospitality, to start opening up with drinking, or for meals only or we could open it all up in one go.
‘Any further information will be released as soon as it is available.’
Regarding fitness centres, Mr Knight added: ‘There is international evidence that [Covid] can be spread in a gym environment. There is also good evidence to say that that spread is relatively low,’ he said.
‘What we found in Jersey was that there had been spread in that context and there had been risk. We look at what happens locally and we respond according to the risk to Islanders and we will continue to do so.
‘When we look at things like shared air, contact and environment, on paper we are at a higher risk [in gyms]. But I think we need to recognise that the sector is taking responsibility and wants to do more.
‘And getting Islanders active in both the indoor and outdoor environment is really important.’
Close-contact businesses, such as hair and beauty salons, are due to reopen on 3 February.
