Covid-19: Confirmed patient numbers rise to 155

Monday 06 April 2020

The number of patients officially confirmed to have covid-19 jumped by 37 over the weekend, as the island also suffered its third death linked with the virus.

There are now 155 islanders confirmed to have the illness. 1,228 tests have returned a negative result, while 66 remain pending.

Dr Ivan Muscat confirmed last week that health workers were among those with the illness. 

He also said that the number of cases was likely to be 10 times higher than the official figures, and that some people will not notice that they have it. 

COVID-19 UPDATE: The number of patients officially confirmed to have the virus now stands at 155, up 29 from yesterday https://t.co/kLoVC3SF5K

— Bailiwick Express (@bailiwickxpress) April 5, 2020

It means there may be as many as 1,500 people with the illness in the community, which remains on lockdown. 

The number of confirmed cases topped 100 for the first time on Friday, rising from 96 to 118. 

Less than 24 hours later, the Health Minister announced that a third islander had passed away after contracting corona virus. 

The individual was described as being in their late 60s, with an underlying health condition.

Health and Community Services can confirm that a third death linked to Coronavirus has occurred in Jersey today, Saturday 4 April. The patient was in their late sixties, with underlying health conditions. We'd like to offer our condolences to the family at this very sad time. pic.twitter.com/m393TBBlEc

— Government of Jersey (@GovJersey) April 4, 2020

Guernsey also suffered its third death linked with covid-19 – an islander in their 80s.

Their latest statistical release said that 154 tests had returned positive results, and that 27 people had recovered.

In contrast, Jersey does not currently provide recovery figures.

However, the figures may not provide a true reflection of the contrasting situations in Jersey and Guernsey, as Guernsey has access to its own lab and is able to turn around results more quickly.

Third covid-19 death confirmed, while 27 patients have recovered | Bailiwick Express https://t.co/y6n9tav3aU

— Bailiwick Express Guernsey (@BailiwickGsy) April 5, 2020

Jersey, meanwhile, is still waiting on 5,000 test kits, which were due to arrive from California via the Netherlands and UK last week, but were unexpectedly held up.

There are, however, 150,000 ‘immunity’ tests on the way to the island, which are due to arrive in batches of 50,000 this month.

They will clarify which islanders have had and recovered from the illness and are therefore able to go back to work and contribute to the hard-hit economy.