Chief Minister Senator John Le Fondré said this morning that officials estimated there to be two to three cases out in the community for every officially recorded case following a question from Deputy Kirsten Morel in this morning’s States Assembly meeting.

With 774 individuals having tested positive, the ratio means the overall number of individuals in Jersey with the virus is likely to be between around 1,500 and 2,300.

During the first wave of the virus, when Jersey’s testing capacity was more limited, it was believed that there were up to 10 individuals with the illness for every recorded positive case.

Responding to the Deputy, the Chief Minister went on to say that, despite concerns from some, Jersey did not have more cases on a relative scale than other jurisdictions, but that its rigorous testing programme had “made the disease a lot more visible.” 

He said that Jersey’s “greater magnifying glass” meant that the island was likely picking up cases that “most other people probably will not be identifying”, before adding: “If you can see the enemy you can take the measures to try and defeat the enemy.” He also said that the island’s hospitalisation rates appeared to be better than the UK.

On Twitter, Deputy Inna Gardiner disputed the Chief Minister’s logic by comparing a week in August with a week in December, saying: “We test slightly less and we find five times more.” 

Deputy Rob Ward also took issue with the Chief Minister’s response.

Deputy Morel subsequently asked whether the Government would consider communicating the total number of assumed cases, noting that it may help to alleviate panic in the community. The Chief Minister said that the Government would be updating some of its communications this week in response, but did not provide specific details of what that would look like.

Senator Le Fondré was also forced to justify the decision not to take a ‘bubble’ approach for Christmas and instead allow islanders to attend up to three gatherings of between six and 10 people from different households following a question from Deputy Jess Perchard. 

She described the current plans as “web-like”, saying they would allow individuals to meet up to 27 different people over the festive period rather than keeping a tight-knit group.

Senator Le Fondré responded that keeping a household bubble may mean “essentially locking down” those who don’t have family on the island. 

He also said there may be difficulties in defining exactly what a household should look like – something Deputy Perchard disputed. 

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Pictured: The Chief Minister defended the Christmas gatherings guidance.

Earlier in the meeting, Health Minister Deputy Richard Renouf admitted that he didn’t have the current ‘R’ number – a figure showing the rate of transmission from one individual to another – to hand.

Challenged on why this was by Senator Kristina Moore, he explained that officials were extremely busy working on the island’s covid-19 response and were using a range of other metrics to assist them. 

Deputy Carina Alves, meanwhile, shared her personal experience of waiting 72 hours after receiving a covid-19 app alert to be contacted by the contact tracing team.

Echoing comments in response to queries from Express last week, the Health Minister said that more resources had been poured into the contact tracing team, whose staffing levels had been increased from 55 full-time to 98 with plans to bring in more. 

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Pictured: Deputy Alves said she wasn’t contacted for 72 hours after receiving an app alert.

He added that the maximum wait to be contacted should be no more than 48 hours, and that he would look into the Deputy’s concerns.

Elsewhere in the meeting, the Health Minister also said that anyone who tested positive would be offered emotional support in an initial phonecall confirming their result, in advance of being asked to list their contacts in another telephone conversation.