Senator Lyndon Farnham said that businesses would not be forced to close like last Christmas as long as the number of people in hospital with Covid-19 remained low.
His comments come as the number of active Covid cases in the Island rose to 1,002 yesterday. Seven people are in hospital with the virus, although the government has not made clear how many are in hospital because they need treatment for Covid as opposed to how many have tested positive. There are also 10,059 direct contacts of positive cases.
Earlier this week, the Jersey Round Table announced that its annual charity ball had been postponed. The organisation said it felt it was not the right decision to push ahead amid the rise in Covid-19 cases. And employment adviser Law at Work said that its Breakfast Briefing, which was due to be held today at the Grand Hotel, had moved online due to the increased case numbers.
Senator Farnham said: ‘We are in a much better-protected position coming into Christmas this year due to the high number of vaccinations. The focus has to be on protecting clinical capacity and at this moment, we have no plans to change our current approach towards restrictions if hospitalisations remain low. If they increase, then we may have to review things but we want to keep businesses as open as possible.’
He added: ‘As long as people are sensible and follow the guidance, then there is no reason why they cannot enjoy their Christmas plans and go to events or parties. If you are going to do so, just make sure you do the responsible thing and take a lateral-flow test before going to any event. But it is down to everyone’s personal choice and I understand some Islanders may err on the side of caution.
‘There has been a good public response to the government advice given so far and the best thing people can do to ensure we have the safest Christmas possible is to get vaccinated and, if eligible, get your booster jab.’
Simon Harper, who runs Harpers Catering, has called on the government to give a clear message about what will happen this Christmas.
He said: ‘People have been getting twitchy with the increased case numbers but the number of hospitalisations remains low and so I don’t see why we cannot carry on as normal. We cannot afford to have a repeat of last Christmas and we need to make sure we have a period of meaningful business in the festive months.’
Claire Boscq, chief executive of the Jersey Hospitality Association, said: ‘We are watching the rise in the number of cases very carefully and urge anyone visiting hospitality venues to follow the latest government advice on mask wearing and taking regular lateral-flow tests.
‘Our businesses want to stay open, especially after the prolonged restrictions due to the pandemic, but we also want to keep our people and our customers safe. Our members are displaying the “keep Jersey in business” posters in their venues and we hope that customers and visitors will follow the advice to wear a mask, take a test and halt the spread of Covid.’
