WATCH: Trio facing prosecution over isolation breaches

Friday 14 August 2020

Three individuals in Jersey are facing fines of up to £1,000 after 'spot checks' uncovered three breaches of travel quarantine rules.

The news was confirmed by Deputy Chief Minister Senator Lyndon Farnham, as he delivered a government briefing updating islanders on the local response to the pandemic this morning.

More than 100 homes have been visited by police and customs officers this week. 

Under Jersey's current traffic light travel classification system, passengers arriving from an amber country are required to undertake two PCR (diagnostic) tests on day zero and day five, isolating inbetween.

Meanwhile, those travelling from red-listed nations will be forced to quarantine for 14 days. Even if they return a negative test after being swabbed on arrival, they must continue to self-isolate.

Video: This morning's press briefing with the Deputy Chief Minister and Deputy Medical Officer for Health.

The Deputy Chief Minister confirmed this morning that Home Affairs officials have been conducting checks to ensure that individuals have been complying with these requirements.

"Unfortunately, three islanders were found to be in breach of the self-isolation rules and they are now regrettably facing prosecution and potentially substantial fines, so I urge islanders who are travelling or planning to travel to take their responsibilities seriously and to follow the restrictions which are there to protect us all," he said.

Anyone that fails to self-isolate when required may be guilty of a criminal offence, punishable by a fine of up to £1,000.

Responding to questions this morning, Deputy Medical Officer for Health Dr Ivan Muscat - the medic leading the island's covid response - confirmed that, of the 25 positive cases noted since the 3 July when borders opened - 20 had come from 'green' countries and five from 'non-green' countries.

Pictured: The individuals could be fined £1,000.

However, he noted: "The total number of incoming arrivals who were tested during that period was about 30,000 and the bulk of those 30,000 are from green countries which then indicates that the risk of arrivals from the non-green countries is significantly higher than from the green countries, even though the absolute number of arrivals from green countries was very high."