Travellers from the UK, even those stopping for a short layover, are already subject to an isolation period of at least ten days while Guernsey has been upgraded due to the presence of the UK variant of the virus in the island. Travellers from all other countries are to be treated as having come from a ‘red’ zone.
The measures are due to come into force at midnight on Saturday.
Health Minister Richard Renouf said: ‘These are precautionary measures based on scientific advice which we hope will prevent any new variants from entering the Island community.
‘We will not be closing our borders due to our ongoing need to send Islanders to the UK for health reasons and to allow Islanders to return home.
‘We are continuing to work with the UK to establish whether Jersey has any new variants, and we will be monitoring the situation closely.’
Deputy medical officer of health Dr Ivan Muscat said on Thursday evening that there was no confirmation that any Covid-19 variants were present in Jersey but that decisions were being taken on the assumption that they could be.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Friday that all travel corridors to the UK would be closed from Monday morning with anyone flying into the country having to have proof of a negative test prior to travel and having to isolate for a minimum of ten days. However, as Jersey is part of the Common Travel Area, Islanders are exempt from the new rules starting so there is no requirement to isolate or provide a test result.
