“Small number” of care home residents showing covid symptoms

Thursday 15 July 2021

Only a “small number” of the islanders in care homes with covid are showing “mild” symptoms and the “majority” are fully vaccinated, Government officials have confirmed.

Following questions from Express, they confirmed that the nine cases identified on Tuesday were all part of an outbreak at the same home.

They were all identified through routine screening.

A spokesperson added: “Contract tracing is underway and all those who are direct contacts will be required to follow the guidance."

While contact tracing rules recently changed to allow direct contacts to avoid isolation, the island’s high case numbers saw Ministers warn earlier this week that direct contacts should avoid care homes and healthcare settings unless they had a “special” reason to be there.

According to yesterday’s statistics, there are now more than 1,700 covid cases in Jersey and 9,805 direct contacts.

Six people in hospital were also recorded as having the virus, one more than the previous day. It’s unclear what proportion are being treated there solely for covid.

Dr Ivan Muscat MBE, Jersey’s Acting Medical Officer of Health, was unable to provide this breakdown on Tuesday due to the risk of identifying certain individuals, but stated that roughly half of the covid cases in hospital since 28 June were being treated for other conditions.

Pictured: There are six people in hospital with covid.

When the direct contact rules changed earlier this month, Health Minister Deputy Richard Renouf commented: "In the context of vaccination coverage, it is time to stop seeing the number of cases as the primary risk factor. With these changes in policy, Jersey will see a significant increase in the number of positive cases but what we must now focus on is our hospitalisation rate and protecting our vital services.”

While case numbers are higher than the second wave last year, the current hospitalisation rate is lower.

Of the 210 cases picked up between Tuesday and Wednesday, 90 cases were people feeling unwell and seeking healthcare, 80 were contact traced, 26 were inbound travellers, 11 were picked up through planned workforce screening, and three tested positive as they were screened on admission to a healthcare setting.

During this week’s press conference, the Chief Minister maintained that, despite its high covid figures, which set it higher than most UK authorities, the island remains “open for business” and ready to welcome tourists.