Select a region
December was defined by rising cases of the virus, which topped 1,000 at one stage, and the first covid-related deaths since the spring. It did, however, end with cases easing off slightly.
It was also a month characterised by a plethora of new measures, hastily arranged press conferences and a sense that ministers were losing control of its pandemic response, despite their protestations to the contrary.
Although it had been proposed by scientific advisers back in September, wearing a mask in indoor public places finally became compulsory on 1 December.
With Christmas looming, the Government introduced new measures for the festive period. Initially family and friends could gather up to three times from 23 December to 5 January, providing everyone abided by the ‘rule of ten’.
Pictured: Ministers were criticised for not taking account of Islanders who celebrate the festive season on Christmas Eve.
Well, that was if your gathering was between five and ten people; if it was fewer than five, you could meet as many times as you liked. Sort of. Confused? Most people were.
But that all changed when cases started climbing and community transmission was rife. As part of a new set of guidance issued a week or so later, people could only meet friends and family from another household indoors twice between those same dates – once on Christmas Day and once on Boxing Day.
Ministers were quickly urged to rethink the new rules because they didn’t cater for other communities, such as the Polish and Portuguese, who celebrate on Christmas Eve. Politicians, however, didn’t budge and stuck to the original two days, with apologies to those affected.
The Christmas rules weren’t the only major restrictions. The island entered into a ‘lockdown-lite’ with all hospitality venues closing on Friday 4 December. This ‘circuit-breaker’ was extended to 11 January and most shops were added on Christmas Eve, although supermarkets and - bizarrely for some - banks and garden centres were excluded.
Pictured: 87-year-old Beryl Taylor became the first Islander to be vaccinated against covid-19.
It wasn’t all bad news. The first care home resident - 87-year-old great-grandmother Beryl Taylor - received her first of two vaccine jabs on Sunday 13 December and everyone in care homes had received their first jab by Christmas. It couldn’t have come soon enough with the number of cases in nursing and residential homes getting close to 50.
Although the ports were quiet during winter, it was still significant news when Condor announced that there would be no high-speed ferry sailing from January until April, due to the impact of the pandemic.
Although few people fancy rolling on the high seas in February, it still dashed any half-term skiing hopes for those optimistic islanders still dreaming of driving to the slopes this season.
The covid drama focused on schools in December, as more and more pupils and teachers were forced to isolate at home, either with the virus or as a direct contact of someone who had it.
With staff shortages, the difficulty of teaching hybrid lessons, the fear of having to isolate over Christmas, and hundreds of pupils off anyway, things hit boiling point when unions strongly criticised the Government’s “schools should stay open” approach and former teacher, Deputy Rob Ward, called an emergency States sitting to force Ministers to close the schools a week early.
Pictured: Opinions were sharply divided on whether schools should finish a week early.
His attempt failed but, with schools giving parents the option of keeping their kids at home in the final week, two-thirds of secondary school pupils were off anyway.
It was not a good December for two town retailers. Central Market jeweller Darius Pearce was found guilty of laundering money that later funded an audacious but botched attempt to smuggle nearly £1m of drugs into Jersey.
Later in the month, florist Mark Howe was jailed for four years for importing drugs, including the highly addictive crystal meth, into the Island. The Court, however, recognised that the drugs were for personal use only and that Howe had stayed off drugs since his arrest last November.
With the impact of the hospitality lockdown appearing to have a positive impact on covid cases, States Members could enjoy a short festive break … but not for long. With the UK and EU striking a trade deal on Christmas Eve, the second emergency sitting of the month was called for Sunday 27 December.
Members unanimously backed the Council of Ministers’ recommendation that Jersey join the deal, despite the failure of attempts to increase the zone of fishing exclusivity from three to six miles. It means that French boats will still be able to fish up to the island’s three mile limit but Jersey at least will issue all commercial licences, giving it some control over conserving stocks.
And so the year ended with Jersey still in the throes of the pandemic but with the number of cases falling and the vaccination programme ramping up. While most islanders won’t be overflowing with optimism, one imagines that most will be expecting that 2021 will be better than 2020, on the assumption that it couldn’t get much worse.
January, the calm before the storm
March, it hits and we lockdown
August, court cases, real housewives and grenades
October, fines, cuts and second jobs
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.