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Coronavirus: Second Person In Hospital

A second person is now being treated in Jersey's General Hospital after contracting coronavirus.

This person was diagnosed after travelling into the island and has since developed symptoms.

The government says full contact tracing has taken place.

The other person being treated was diagnosed with Covid-19 after being admitted to hospital late last week.

Jersey is now up to 64 known active cases of Covid-19. Three new cases have come through the ports, with one diagnosed following contact tracing.

Menawhile the Chief Minister has moved to try and reassure worried islanders following the recent jump in case numbers.

In a statement, Senator John Le Fondre said more mitigation measures are planned, such as wearing masks, and the government is trying to balance the risks given that most arrivals are testing negative for Covid-19.

"Every Monday, we release results from Friday, Saturday and Sunday – that is 43% of our weekly results released in one day. This week, 30 new cases were found from 3,588 swabs, which is a positivity rate of 0.84%. This means 99.16% of people coming into Jersey tested negative. 

"From today, everyone who arrives in Jersey must isolate until they get a negative test result, and they will then be retested at Day 5. If they test positive then, contact-tracing will ensure all their direct contacts are also tested.

"Since airline schedules resumed on July 3rd, around two-thirds of positive results have been from returning Islanders. And over this weekend, seventeen of the twenty-five arrivals were residents and eight were visitors. 

"We do not isolate arriving passengers for a longer period because the risk is so low (below 1%), and to isolate 99% of people needlessly is against the advice of our Deputy Medical Officer of Health, Dr Ivan Muscat, due to its lack of proportionality.

"We do not want to prevent Islanders from leaving Jersey to visit friends and family or to take children to University. Behind each number there is a family story and I hope people will remember that there are real people behind these statistics.

"We need a proportionate and balanced response that is right for Jersey. While we follow what is happening in our neighbours carefully, we do not blindly follow the measures they are taking. We have our own medical and economic advisers and they have kept us in a great position to date. 

"Today, we are updating our country and regional classifications and will implement those changes this week, before half term. We are also intending to require more mitigations in the Island, like the wearing of masks in indoor public spaces.

"Keeping your distance and washing your hands regularly is the best way to prevent catching the virus. Shops should be encouraging mask-wearing and hand sanitiser use and Islanders need to play their part by leaving their contact details when visiting leisure and hospitality venues. 

"If we all stick to these rules, we can keep each other safe."

The government has also insisted there is no evidence, based on contact tracing, 'to conclude that there is any community transmission on the island.'

It's after the Deputy Medical Officer of Health told Scrutiny that they are struggling to find the source of infection of one person who was diagnosed earlier this month.

"The Contact Tracing Team continue to investigate all direct contacts of positives cases and advise those contacts what measures they need to take. 

"Direct contacts are at higher risk of being infected, so it is the Contact Tracing Team’s job to monitor their welfare and in turn, build relationships with people to establish, as accurately as possible, who can be connected with certain cases. This takes time and the team continue to work to build the fullest picture possible of active cases. 

"The objective remains to contain all confirmed cases and delay the spread. All positive cases are isolated and once determined, all direct contacts advised to do the same, to avoid undetected community transmission." - Government Spokesperson.
 

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