🇯🇪Jersey borders press conference about to begin. Highlights in this thread as we go. I’m IN the room. Me and my view.
Jersey borders press conference about to begin. Highlights in this thread as we go. I’m IN the room. Me and my view.
Jersey borders press conference about to begin. Highlights in this thread as we go. I’m IN the room. Me and my view.
The panel is @lyndonfarnham, @Ian_Gorst, Dr Susan Turnbull and Dr Ivan Muscat.

LF:

•priority is Islanders’ lives, livelihoods and wellbeing
•the time is right to ‘carefully’ to resume travel to and from island
•resumes 3 July for all
•Islanders can go visit friends and family, visitors can come here
•Understands some will be concerned about risk of bringing in virus via planes and ferries
•Services will resume gradually
•Arrivals must be tested or self-isolate
•There’ll be a ‘four part’ control
•Public health messaging in hotels
•Operators will share details of planned services in advance
•Test results will come back within 12 hours - the game-changer
•Travellers will provide contact details and positive cases will be tracked
•Safer travel proposals will go to States for debate next Tue (to wreck the Macon propostion)
•Islanders will once again be able to go on holiday, says minister

Onto IG:

•Medical advice is clear to make this move
•Airport testing trial ‘successful’, 868 people (93%) tested
•No cases of Covid-19 have been found in border testing trial
•Current low rate of infection and high compliance with guidelines means position in good
•UK live infection rate is currently c1 in 1,700
•Indefinite travel lockdown awaiting a vaccine not viable
•This is about ‘living with Covid-19 as a global reality’
•Urges continued common sense from Islanders in their interactions

SB:

•All about balance of harm, harm of Covid-19 v harm of staying locked up and isolated from world
•We are now very ‘Covid-ready’
•We risk being left out of airline schedules if we don’t reopen
•UK infection rate now coming down to very low levels
•Expect one infected person every couple of months arriving through open borders
•This is a ‘safe and balanced way forward’
IM:

•This is a balance of risks while we await a vaccine
•We are now relatively Covid-free
•Anticipate ‘surge’ of Covid as we approach winter, so should make most of current ‘lull or hiatus’ while we can
•Testing and tracing ability is now strong and works well
•Extra hospital beds means we have resilience to allow a ‘near normal’ life
•6 active cases, but could be as low as 2 active cases by tomorrow morning
•Risk per thousand travellers into Jersey per week is around 1 case every 7 weeks

Onto media questions now...
•ST: Not worried about Bournemouth-style hordes on beaches, unlikely to happen
•IM: New lab in a van will be used for fast turnaround and ultimately newer faster test
•LF: Expect Dep Macon to withdraw his propostion
•IG: By 3 July kit will be in place to cope with scale
•LF: Passengers testing positive will be provided government-sanctioned/funded accommodation if they don’t have somewhere
•IG: We expect people to use ‘a jolly good dose of common sense’ while they await results
•IG: Tests will be free in July and Aug, then reviewed
•IM: Those under age of 11 will not face tests as they’re not super-spreaders, need parental consent
•IM: Contact tracers will do checks on those isolating
•LF: Success has been based on making small steps forward, so if there are probs we can go back a step
•IM: If there’s a positive plane passsenger test, passengers two rows in front or behind will be contact traced
•LF: Blue Islands has identified some of the gaps left by FlyBe collapse, EasyJet and BA will resume key links
•ST: Don’t believe we’re putting anybody at extra risk
•LF: Thanks Deputy Macon for withdrawing his proposition
•LF: Infrastructure for testing will be in place by 3 July
•IG: Times will remains difficult for hospitality but this will give them a ‘kick start’
•LF: We’ve tried to stay in tune with mood of Islanders as much as poss
•LF: Understand there are still at-risk people in Island, policy now based on living *with* virus
•IG: Some Islanders are desperate to get back to normal, some remain fearful
•LF: Travellers will be made aware of need to isolate prior to their test result
•LF: Hopeful States will back this move when they meet next Tue

Ends

There you go. Borders open with testing on arrival (subject to vote) next Fri.
You can follow @GaryBurgessCI.
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