Third helping of covid restrictions to come on Xmas Eve

Wednesday 23 December 2020

All non-essential shops, including hair and beauty salons, will be forced to close from 18:00 on Christmas Eve as part of the third wave of restrictions being introduced this month in a bid to curb the increase of covid-19 cases in the island.

As part of the new measures, restrictions on the number of people meeting will also be extended to outdoor gatherings, as well as indoor.

The announcement comes after Jersey reached over 1,000 current cases on Monday. This number has since dipped to 989 after 67 individuals recovered and 38 new cases were identified over the last 24 hours. Sadly, another person has died in hospital.

Sadly, there has been 1 death in Hospital, our sincere condolences go to family and friends.
Since Mon 21 Dec, 67 individuals have recovered and 38 new cases have been identified: pic.twitter.com/EUGEvdxlFk

— Government of Jersey (@GovJersey) December 22, 2020

The Chief Minister, Senator John Le Fondré, will be holding a press conference today (Wednesday) at 11:00 to discuss the new set of restrictions, which are being introduced  following advice from the Scientific and Technical Advisory Cell (STAC) and a sitting of the Emergencies Council. 

Pictured: Hair and beauty salons will be among those closing on 24 December.

Non-essential retail, close contact services and indoor recreation centres, will have to close from 18:00 on Christmas Eve. This will affect clothing, furniture, gift, betting and bookshops as well as hair, beauty, and tattoo salons; indoor amusements, visitor, and heritage attractions.

Exemptions will be granted for:

• health services such as chiropody or dentistry etc.
• take away services from restaurants and cafés
• supermarkets / corner stores / off-licences / indoor markets 
• banks
• pharmacies and chemists 
• pet shops
• laundry services
• garden centres / DIY / hardware & building supplies
• post offices / newsagents
• petrol stations 
• vehicle sales and repair 
• IT and mobile phone sales / services and repairs

 Meanwhile,  the ‘rule of ten’ for gathering will be extended to outdoors and a specific number of exemptions for controlled events will be reduced to include places of worship, weddings and civil partnerships, funerals, and after-school clubs. 

On Monday, it was announced that anyone arriving to Jersey via the UK would be classified as arriving from a ‘red’ area under Jersey’s traffic light system, until 11 January. The measure, introduced after a new strain of corona virus led to a sharp increase in the number of cases in the UK, means they will need to be tested three times and stay in isolation until their day 10 negative.

Previously, if a journey to Jersey included a transit stop in another country or region, passengers needed to follow the classification requirements for that jurisdiction only if they stayed there overnight.