Despite predictions that the number of known active cases could top 500 this weekend, senior politicians have said there should be no further delays to Jersey entering the final stage of the lockdown exit roadmap. Speaking at an Ask the Ministers event this week, External Relations Minister Ian Gorst said he and Economic Development Minister Lyndon Farnham believed 15 July should be ‘the day we start to live with Covid’.
The final lifting of restrictions, which has been delayed twice as the Delta variant fuels a surge in cases, would allow stand-up drinking in pubs, nightclubs to reopen, large-scale events and an unlimited number at gatherings in homes and gardens.
During the Question Time-style event:
- Senator Farnham said that medical advisers were reviewing whether single-jabbed 18- to 35-year-olds should have the same isolation rules as older double-jabbed Islanders, as the current policy was alienating young people who have not yet been offered their second dose. Double-jabbed Islanders who are contact-traced only have to isolate until their first negative test, while adults with one must complete ten days.
- The minister also questioned whether the government should continue contact-tracing at the current rate and publishing daily case numbers given the success of the vaccine in reducing hospitalisations and deaths.
- And he stressed that it was ‘very realistic’ for large-scale events to go-ahead, saying ministers had ‘no appetite’ to delay the lifting of restrictions beyond 15 July.
Outlining his vision for the coming weeks, Senator Gorst added: ‘I was very clear, and Lyndon was very clear, that 15 July ought to be, and should be, and in our minds is, Jersey’s freedom day. The day we start to live with Covid.
‘We are not going to go right back to normal. It will take time for some to get used to living with being that bit more careful because the virus is still circulating but we hope that the symptoms will be mild.’
Meanwhile, there was confusion yesterday over whether Islanders jabbed with a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine made in India would be able to travel to Europe this summer, after the EU reportedly said it does not recognise the product. (See page 7)
Despite an increase in cases in Jersey and the UK, deaths and hospitalisations have risen slowly.
According to data from the Office for National Statistics, there were yesterday about 211,100 active Covid cases in England, up 72% on the previous week and the highest number since late February.
But there are now far fewer patients in hospital, in a sign vaccines are working. There were 11,400 Covid patients on wards the last time England hit 200,000 cases, compared to 1,300 last week.
In a statement explaining the Government of Jersey’s policy and the reduction in the threat of Covid, Dr Ivan Muscat, deputy medical officer of health, said: ‘We are seeing an increase in numbers, called a third wave, in the UK. We are also seeing an increase in Jersey. But the figures do not present the same risk as they did before the vaccination programme.
‘Covid infection causes severe illness with age and in those otherwise at risk. The vaccination programme rightly started in those at highest risk and has worked its way down the age cohorts.
‘This has meant that mainly younger as yet unvaccinated people are now getting the infection. But younger people get mild or very mild disease. Therefore the numbers currently seen do not represent the burden of disease that was seen in the past. And this is reflected in the low hospitalisation rates in the UK and elsewhere.
‘We are striking a balance and we wish to ensure that we continue to achieve the right balance. Given the new situation we must do so slowly and carefully. We do not take to advising ongoing restrictions lightly. Neither do we want to drop our guard and lose the right balance.’
- Ask the Ministers – full report: Pages 8 & 9 of Saturday’s (3 June) JEP.
