Select a region
Ministers have stepped up the border testing regime again in response to the Omicron variant threat – but decided against making masks compulsory in public spaces.
From Friday, all passengers arriving in Jersey who have been in countries outside the Common Travel Area – the UK, Ireland and Crown Dependencies - will have to take a PCR test at the border and isolate until their result.
The new rule applies regardless of vaccination status or previous infection history.
Competent Authority Ministers – the group legally responsible for emergency decision-making in Jersey – made the decisions at a crunch meeting last night in response to growing international concern about the newly-identified Omicron variant.
Omicron (B.1.1.529) is the most heavily mutated variant of covid yet, and it’s feared that it may be more transmissible and less receptive to the vaccine.
It has not yet been detected in Jersey, but the Government announced in a press conference this afternoon that it will be sending more positive covid tests for sequencing, particularly those of inbound travellers.
If anyone tests positive for the Omicron variant, their direct contacts will be asked to isolate for at least 10 days and undergo enhanced testing, with a PCR on day 0 and day 10, and lateral flow tests every day inbetween.
"Like Delta, we do expect this variant to reach us," Health Minister Deputy Richard Renouf said.
Today, Ministers also called for organisers of Christmas parties and festive gatherings to check the covid status of attendees using proof of recent lateral flow tests.
Mask use remains “strongly recommended” in Jersey, but has not been mandated in public spaces or in schools, as education unions had called for. They remain compulsory at the ports and on public transport, however.
In contrast, students and staff in Guernsey schools and colleges have been told they must wear face coverings in communal areas from today, and from tomorrow (Wednesday 1 December), face masks are to become mandatory in most public settings. The UK Government has also mandated mask use.
Yesterday afternoon, it was announced that Jersey would be following UK vaccine experts' latest advice, and extending the option of a third dose of the covid vaccine to 18 to 39-year-olds.
The island will also be offering a second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to all 12 to 15-year-olds no sooner than 12 weeks after their first dose, and a fourth dose to all severely immunosuppressed individuals no sooner than three months after their third dose, in line with advice issued by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) today.
Chief Minister Senator John Le Fondré said that the Government's measures for keeping covid under control would be kept "under regular review over the coming weeks to ensure they are proportionate to the changing situation."
Elsewhere in the conference, it was announced that flu vaccinations would be moving out of Fort Regent.
Dr Muscat explained: “Flu vaccination rates are now decreasing at the Fort as we work our way down the age groups. Because of this and the importance of increasing our covid vaccination rollout flu vaccination will now continue at GP surgeries and pharmacies for those who have not yet received it. By doing this, the Vaccination Centre can focus on administering covid-19 vaccines at pace, which is important in the Omicron context and as we enter the social festive season.”
Follow Express for updates…
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.
Once your comment has been submitted, it won’t appear immediately. There is no need to submit it more than once. Comments are published at the discretion of Bailiwick Publishing, and will include your username.
Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, England & Guernsey are ALL making mask wearing mandatory in certain locations which include shops, banks, post offices etc ~ does CAM really know better ~ pull the other one.
They just need to grow some.
Some of the people writing on here need to broaden their ill-informed narrative and look out into the bigger world. Instead of pointing the finger of discrimination at people wanting to make their own choices in life, it would be far better to engage in an informed debate about treatment programs for infected people and the best way to save lives through treatment if unfortunate enough to be infected.
Booster jabs are being forced on the population as a way of controlling the virus, this is because anyone who was vaxxed 6 months ago is now effectively un-vaxxed, which is why the virus is being caught by so many people again.
The government has responded with a well-measured response which should be applauded for once.