Seventh death linked with covid-19

Thursday 16 April 2020

A seventh islander with covid-19 has died in Jersey.

The latest figures were released last night, also showing that 219 people are now officially confirmed to have the illness.

Earlier in the day, Chief Executive Charlie Parker confirmed that 21 people were being treated for the virus in Jersey General Hospital, with a further eight receiving care in other health facilities.

The latest update, as of Wednesday, 15 April at 6.45pm:

1,619 confirmed negative
219 confirmed positive
65 pending
There have sadly been 7 deaths related to COVID-19 pic.twitter.com/LrjQrOw2NO

— Government of Jersey (@GovJersey) April 15, 2020

The government is today due to publish a more detailed set of statistics, including the numbers of islanders deemed to have ‘recovered’ from the illness.

But he suggested that this information may be more limited than that produced by Guernsey to “maintain some degree of confidentiality”.

Jersey’s neighbouring island has released a detailed breakdown of the demographic of islanders affected by the virus, showing that the youngest islander to be infected was zero, while the oldest was 99.

Guernsey’s data also showed that care home staff and care home residents together accounted for more than a third of current cases.

Pictured: The States of Guernsey revealed that a significant number of covid-19 patients were care home residents or staff.

It has also provided more information on the eight individuals who have died, or are believed to have died, as a result of covid-19.

As the number to have died from covid-19 in Jersey rose  to six on Tuesday, contrary to calls for more clarity from the public, officials said that they would not be differentiating between individuals whose deaths were directly caused by covid-19 or those with underlying conditions for whom it may have been a contributing factor.

In contrast to the first islanders to pass away - all of whom were described as having underlying conditions - no details have been provided about the four deaths confirmed this week.

Pictured top: Jersey's covid-19 test processing facility at the hospital. (Gary Grimshaw)