GOVERNMENT ‘cannot be issuing orders all the time’ and Islanders need to ‘take responsibility’ as part of a greater shift towards living with Covid, the Health Minister has said.
Deputy Richard Renouf said he hoped measures brought in this week, including revised testing procedures for direct contacts and arriving passengers, the return of mandatory mask-wearing and work-from-home guidance, would enable the Island to manage the current Covid wave.
Fuelled by the Omicron variant, the total number of known active cases reached 3,492 yesterday, while 26 people in hospital had tested positive.
The government confirmed yesterday that some schoolchildren would need to study from home this week as a result of staff shortages.
Deputy Renouf said: ‘I think what we are doing is appropriate for what we are seeing. There’s been a large spread of infections and, while they are less severe, the number of cases is having an effect on both the public and private sectors, and on schools.
‘We hope these measures will be sufficient and I have every hope that, by the end of this month, we will see that cases have fallen and got to a point where we are learning to live with Covid.
‘Government cannot be issuing orders all the time and organising people’s lives. People need to take responsibility and they are doing that.’
Direct contacts of positive Covid cases no longer need to book a PCR test but must continue to take daily lateral flow tests for ten days. Deputy Renouf said this was consistent with other calls for Islanders to take personal responsibility through measures such as getting vaccinated and using LFT kits regularly.
‘There is a risk that people will be lax and not test [when they are direct contacts] but it is part of the move that we must take and we will use this as a test-bed towards learning to live with Covid,’ he said.
The minister re-emphasised the importance of vaccination, with Fort Regent currently offering jabs to both walk-ins and people with appointments, but said he remained opposed to the notion of compulsory vaccination.
Latest statistics indicate that 71% of frontline healthcare workers in Jersey have received their booster dose. Deputy Renouf admitted this was a concern, but added that he believed there was some uncertainty about the figure, which he said could be higher as a result of healthcare workers moving roles frequently.
‘I am still opposed [to making jabs compulsory] and our take-up has been very good so far and it could be counter-productive to make it a condition of people’s employment,’ he said.
Deputy Renouf said that fewer than half of those in hospital who had tested positive were there as a result of the virus, with the majority testing positive on or after admission. Information about the vaccination status of those in hospital with the virus would hopefully be available soon, he added.
A spokesman for UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said yesterday that the government did not ‘see any data to suggest that further restrictions would be the right approach’ to tackling Covid in England.
Jersey’s Health Department confirmed last week that 30 appointments for procedures at the General Hospital had been postponed out of a total of 117 scheduled for this week.
Deputy Renouf said: ‘There’s a review of staffing levels at every shift change and there’s a plan to redeploy staff into essential areas where necessary. I can’t guarantee there won’t be other changes but things are being managed well.’
New arrangements for arriving passengers led to the postponement of the Jersey Bulls v Beckenham Town football match due to be played at Springfield this Saturday. The news was announced on social media by the away team, who said it was ‘a direct consequence of the implications of the current travel requirements/restrictions in place due to the ongoing Covid situation’. Jersey Bulls expressed sadness at the decision, describing entry requirements to the Island as ‘straightforward’.
– Vaccination appointments can be booked at gov.je/vaccine, and jabs will also be administered to walk-ins at Fort Regent between 11.30am and 6.30pm on weekdays and 8.30am to 3.30pm at weekends.
