Deputy medical officer of health Dr Ivan Muscat said it remained vital that Islanders continued to follow public-health guidelines as restrictions begin to ease.
He added that the lifting of some restrictions – including the planned reopening of some hospitality venues next week – had been possible due to ‘good public adherence’ to health guidelines but that if that adherence deteriorated he warned that ‘measures will have to tighten up again’.
‘Islanders should remember to keep themselves, their family, and their friends safe as we continue to protect those most vulnerable from this virus. We all have a social responsibility to do this particularly while the vaccination programme continues to be rolled out,’ he said.
‘It is sensible to assume we will see some rise in case numbers in the coming week due to the upward pressure of people mixing in hospitality and the resumption of some sports activities.
‘But these are controlled environments and we have robust mitigations to limit spikes as we have done in other controlled environments like schools and non-essential retail.
‘Household mixing is not safe at this time because there are no mitigation measures we can put in place in private homes.
‘I would very strongly recommend sticking to meeting friends outdoors and avoid household mixing in private gardens, which are usually smaller or can increase the risk of indoor mixing should the weather
change.’
