JERSEY can “avoid the worst” of a surge in respiratory diseases, according to the Island’s public health director – as Europe battles a new wave of Covid and flu infections.
Professor Peter Bradley said the Island could see “a bit of a rise” in winter illnesses, but that the situation would have to “really accelerate” before it could spark any discussion about mandatory mask wearing, seen in other jurisdictions.
But he encouraged Islanders to continue observing “good hygiene practices” such as hand washing.
Europe is currently battling with a mixture of flu, Covid and RSV cases that have placed pressure on some health facilities.
Spain’s health ministry has said face masks will be mandatory in hospitals and healthcare centres from today.
At the start of January, Jersey’s seven-day Covid case-rate per 100,000 people was marked at around 41, a rise from the single-digit figures recorded over the summer – but still notably lower than the rate of around 300 seen this time last year.
Professor Bradley said: “Obviously we don’t have the testing data volume that we had in the past, so we have not been able to uncover every case. But what we do have is the trend. We can see at the moment there has been a slight increase in the number of cases that have been confirmed, but it’s nothing dramatic.
“What we did see a couple of weeks ago was an increase in the number of RSV infections.
“That is following a very similar trajectory to last year, which was relatively high, but that looks as if it is slowing down a bit now. The other area we typically look at for the respiratory infections is flu, and currently the infection rate for flu is relatively low – certainly a lot lower than it was last year.”
Commenting on the situation in Europe, Professor Bradley added: “We need to be aware of what is happening elsewhere, but at the moment we are not really seeing those trends in Jersey.
“Partly it is because we don’t always see the same pattern of infection at the same time, so we have to be aware that this is a risk for us as we progress into the winter. But I also wonder if Islanders have been particularly good about observing good hygiene practices and we would certainly encourage that.”
He said this included measures such as thorough hand washing, staying at home if you fall ill until you feel well and avoiding vulnerable people.
“All of those things are still relevant,” he said.
“It is hard to explain sometimes exactly why certain geographic areas are hit and others are not, but anything that Islanders can continue to do [to prevent infections] is going to help us.
“We are probably going into a period now where there is less travel with continental Europe, so we can avoid the worst of it if we are very aware of the emerging situation and Islanders continue to do the sensible things that they always do.”
