Calls for immediate self-isolation for 'green' area arrivals into Jersey
Jersey's government is facing renewed pressure to change its border policy. A new proposition calls for passengers arriving from 'green' areas to be required to quarantine until they get a first negative coronavirus test result.
Under current rules, inbound passengers arriving from areas considered to be lower risk must take a coronavirus test on arrival and another five days later but they are not required to self isolate. The government says this policy will change when the turnaround for on-island testing falls below 12 hours.
However, the proposition from Deputy Inna Gardiner calls for the measure to be introduced with immediate effect.
In the proposition, Deputy Gardiner says politicians 'must put the wellbeing of our own population ahead of tourists', saying visitors should have to factor a period of self-isolation into their travel plans. She says that Madeira, where a similar policy was adopted, saw no significant change to the number of hotel and flight bookings.The government has come under scrutiny for its borders policy since a Covid-19 cluster was reported at an unnamed venue in the island, with four people testing positive after visiting across two consecutive days in September.
All direct contacts of the individuals were tested and required to self isolate by contact tracers, but a further two people in one household tested positive. The cluster was identified using data from the venue's contact tracing system.