New covid strain "likely" to be on island

Wednesday 23 December 2020

The new strain of covid thought to be more transmissible is “likely” to be on the island, the Chief Minister has confirmed.

Both the Chief Minister and the Deputy Medical Officer for Health assured steps were being taken to deal with the new variant.

In a press conference this morning, Senator John Le Fondré addressed the "particularly virulent strain of covid-19" which has appeared in South East England and is believed to increase he chance of transmission by almost 70%.

“We are already taking steps to establish whether that strain is present in our community," he said.

“It is likely that this new strain is already present in our Island, but whether it is or not, we must continue acting proactively to limit the ongoing spread of COVID-19 in Jersey.”

Pictured: Dr Muscat described the new strain as "more transmissable."

His comments were echoed by Deputy Medical Officer, Dr Ivan Muscat, who confirmed the "more transmissible covid variant", which was first noted in the UK in September, is likely to also be in the island.

It was also confirmed that a further 3,000 Pfizer covid vaccines had arrived in the island today, though it was followed by a warning that these could only be used if rates were kept down as much as possible.

“Active case numbers still remain higher than we would like, at a time when the rollout of the vaccine continues,” Senator Le Fondré added.

“To date, we have vaccinated over 2,000 people but as we have said repeatedly before, we cannot vaccinate people who are sick with COVID-19.”

This was followed up by Dr Muscat emphasising a need for pace, saying: “Vaccination has now started and we need to deploy this as rapidly as possible so we must ensure due mitigation.”