JCG year group sent home after new covid case

Thursday 05 November 2020

A whole year group at JCG has been sent home after another student with covid was identified.

A Government spokesperson said that the affected student is isolating at home.

They added: "While the direct contacts of the student are identified and contacted, the year group have been asked to go home and to remain at home until this process is completed. Siblings in other year groups can attend school as normal.

"The college will remain open following advice from Environmental and Public Health."

On Tuesday night, the Government announced a major testing drive of sixth formers across four schools - JCG, Victoria College, De La Salle and Beaulieu - after a  "small number" of virus cases were identified at JCG and VCJ.

Pictured: Dr Ivan Muscat wants sixth form students across four schools to be tested.

The testing drive among Year 12s and 13s was described as a "precautionary measure" by Deputy Medical Officer for Health, Dr Ivan Muscat.

Then yesterday afternoon a Hautlieu student, who has not been at school since half-term, was discovered to have covid.

Amid concerns from some parents that some Hautlieu students may have attended events with the affected JCG and Victoria College students over half-term, Express asked the Government whether Hautlieu would also be included in the sixth-form testing programme.

But a spokesperson replied saying this would not be the case.

“The advice of Contact Tracing is that Hautlieu School’s sixth form students do not need to be tested," they said.

Pictured: Hautlieu's sixth-formers will not be part of the testing drive.

Earlier this week, the medic leading Jersey's response to the pandemic, Dr Ivan Muscat, said the team taking calls on the virus hotline had been advised to refer more people for testing - even if their symptoms didn't fit the "classic criteria" of a fever or history of fever, a new continuous cough or a change in taste or smell.

Currently, there are 95 people officially recorded as having the virus.

12 new cases have been identified in the past 24 hours: five from inbound travel, six through contact tracing, and one through planned workforce screening.

Statistics update:

Since Tuesday 3 November, 1 individual has recovered and 12 new cases have been identified (5 from inbound travel, 6 through contact tracing and 1 through planned workforce screening). pic.twitter.com/jrxrZMVRu3

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

46 cases are symptomatic and 49 cases are asymptomatic. None is in hospital.