COVID: Ministers change to 'manage' not 'suppress'

Thursday 12 August 2021

Jersey's government has announced the removal of most covid restrictions as it shifts its strategy for fighting covid-19 from suppressing the virus to managing its effects.

The change was announced at a press conference on Wednesday, at which ministers set the date of the 26th August for the next step-change in how the island responds to the pandemic.

Two weeks today, wearing masks in indoor public spaces will no longer be a legal requirement, people are no longer advised to work from home, and the final much-delayed ‘reconnection’ stage will come in.

This allows nightclubs to open, drinks to be served at the bar and gatherings of more than 20 people to occur in private homes and gardens.

Bigger events can also be held, but the announcement came too late for the Weekender, which was cancelled on Monday for the second year running.

The ‘suppression’ to ‘mitigation’ strategy change was announced by Deputy Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham, who said: “We have been pursuing a robust suppression strategy, using measures including mask-wearing, working from home, and physical distancing to bring down infection rates. 

“But this came at a cost to our liberty and our way of life.

 “Now we are moving into a mitigation phase, which marks a distinct change in the way our Island will deal with the pandemic. 80% of the adult population is fully vaccinated, and we can return to Islanders the freedoms they have missed.

Pictured: Dancing in nightclubs will be allowed from Thursday 26 August.

 “We will maintain a robust test, trace and isolate system to help control the spread of infection. 

“For now, food and drink premises will still be required, by law, to collect customers’ contact details and we will be speaking to businesses about how we can work with sensible guidelines in bars, nightclubs and large events.

 “We will continue to strongly encourage Islanders to be vaccinated, and we are currently working on measures to minimise disruption in schools when they return in September.”

The Government, however, concede that case numbers may "peak and trough" because of the end of restrictions.

Deputy Medical Officer of Health, Dr Ivan Muscat said: “The significance of Covid has changed since the introduction of vaccination. The second wave we had something like 3,000 cases, of whom 5% were admitted to hospital and there was a mortality of 1.2% in total.

“In the third wave, we had just over 5,000 cases to date, with about 1% admitted to hospital and a mortality of 0.08%. 

“So vaccination has significantly altered the significance of Covid and we need to bear that in mind.

“The numbers are, of course, startling but what does that mean? 

“With increasing reconnection we will see the increased possibility of transmission of the virus because that is what reconnection does.

“However, there will also be increased vaccination, we will be monitoring the situation and the significance of any numbers we see, and we will - as always - balance the risks and take appropriate action as needed.” 

The Airport testing centre is due to close on Friday in response to a fall in demand. All drive-through and walk-in tests will now take place at the Harbour.