This weekend will mark five years since the island went into lockdown as the government scrambled to contain the spread of covid-19.
Restrictions on everyday life, from business closures to a two-metre distancing law, would soon follow.
It did not take long for the former Deputy Medical Officer of Health, Dr Ivan Muscat, to become a familiar and reassuring face at press conferences. He would later work closely with Public Health Director, Professor Peter Bradley, who took up his post in June 2021.
As the lockdown anniversary approaches, Professor Bradley spoke to Express his reflections on island’s response to an unprecedented health crisis…
What do you think the public still misunderstands about the pandemic response?
The public were incredibly helpful in Jersey, that is really obvious – and perhaps they don’t even understand how helpful they were at times.
There were a lot of differences of opinion as well, as we progressed towards the later stages of the pandemic, and maybe one thing that isn’t fully understood is how much we had to balance those different perspectives.
I think the other issue is that science could take us so far – and we used it whenever we could – but sometimes the answers were not obvious.
Now we look back, things are very clear that perhaps were not clear when we were in the process of making decisions.”
What is one thing that we did better than the UK and one thing we could have done differently?
Engagement with islanders was always put as a real priority here, and I think that was a really important thing to do.
Services were set up quickly, so your test and trace services – where we were looking at cases and trying to find the people who had been in contact with those cases – as well as the vaccination services, were stood up and made really easy to use in comparison to some other places. So that is definitely a big plus.
I think what we could have done differently was take a slightly broader perspective. So clearly there were implications for schools, for children, for workplaces, for businesses, and I think that we understand the pressures that were put on those areas – that is something we would hope to improve on in the future.
How do you think the public’s trust in health authorities has changed since 2020 – did covid help or hinder?
It’s a very mixed picture. I think that people are a lot more informed about, for example, things like infectious disease.
With that awareness, there is some understanding of the advice that’s given. But clearly, wherever we look, there is a mixed picture in the amount of trust that any individual might have in their health service.
I still believe people in Jersey have a lot of faith in their health services, if we look at the survey, but there’s clearly more to do.
Do you feel the mental health impact of the pandemic has been underestimated? Are we measuring it?
We do look at it regularly and soon there will be another measurement of that in a report called ‘Mental Health Profile’, so that is being looked at regularly.
I think it’s fair to say that one of the things that was underestimated was the impact on people’s mental wellbeing during the pandemic.
Nonetheless, it’s certainly not unique to Jersey, and I think that we do need to focus on that area.
Of course, there are other factors too that have influenced that pattern. Lots of changes in society affect people’s mental wellbeing, so it’s sometimes a bit difficult to establish the cause of a particular trend – but it’s definitely a focus for the future.
Why do you think that was the case? Was it because we prioritised physical health?
It was absolutely necessary to protect people’s lives. I think if we were in the same situation again, that would still be our primary objective.
But I think that it wasn’t fully understood, the consequences on certain groups of mental wellbeing. I think that if we were to go through this again, we would really make sure that some of those groups were protected.
But again, it’s perhaps one of those examples of where it’s easier to see that now.
At the time, when people were trying to do their very best to protect their loved ones and colleagues, they were obviously focusing on the need to protect them from infection.
How many islanders remain impacted by long covid?
We don’t have an accurate count of the number of people with long covid now, because we did have a service that was co-ordinated through the hospital but it was decided to offer that care in general practice.
We do know from the international literature that the number of people who were describing long covid symptoms was decreasing, but I’m not able to comment on that further.
How many vaccination harm reports have there been?
I don’t have information about the general picture, but people can apply to a scheme formally and, if I am talking about that formal scheme, we are talking about a handful of people currently.
What keeps you up at night? How likely is another public health crisis of that scale in our lifetime?
We have seen many types of emergencies over the last couple of years in Jersey, including major incidents that don’t have anything to do with infectious disease, but obviously there are concerns that there could be a pandemic in the future.
What I would say is that we are now much more aware of what we need to do in that circumstance.
We are much better prepared and the international community is very aware that we need to support each other, but locally as well, not only within public health – but also people who deal with emergencies more generally – are much better equipped to deal with any future event.
We are very lucky to have the position that we have in Jersey at the moment.
HAVE YOUR SAY…
Five years on, what are your reflections on covid and lockdown? Share your views by emailing editor@bailiwickexpress.com.