Pubs were allowed to resume a drinks-only service for the first time since December following a dramatic reduction in the number of known active cases of Covid-19, which had peaked at more than 1,000 just before Christmas.
It marked a major step in the government’s reconnection roadmap towards the gradual lifting of all pandemic restrictions.
However, as part of the restrictions, informal gatherings remain restricted to a maximum of ten people under the emergency Covid-19 Law.
States police duty inspector David Turnbull said that officers were in the process of analysing the weekend’s call outs but that from his perspective the reopening of pubs and bars had been managed well.
However, he did say that there had been some reports of house parties needing to be broken up.
St Helier Centenier Paul Huelin, meanwhile, said: ‘From what I understand it was a bit busy this weekend with people having a little too much to drink.
‘States police were out with honorary police checking people were still social distancing.’
He added that the pubs and bars largely appeared to be trouble free in most parts of town but that he had heard of issues with private gatherings.
‘Now that the rules have been relaxed slightly people think that the restrictions aren’t in place and don’t take notice of the advice,’ he said.
‘There are probably always a few who try to flout the rules. Hopefully it will not lead to any more spikes.
‘It is up to people to respect the advice and the rules that they have been given.’
Meanwhile, St Ouen honorary police confirmed that there had been an incident at Grève de Lecq on Saturday night and that the States police had attended. However, they had no further details.
St Brelade honorary police said that the weekend had been ‘reasonably good-natured’ and that most people were ‘happy to be out’ with the only real issue being that some bins had been thrown over the sea wall by a small group of people.
Police chief Robin Smith was on patrol on Friday night and tweeted that he was ‘pleased to report town is busy with no reported issues’.
