Numbers arriving on island

WQ.257/2020

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES BY DEPUTY R.J. WARD OF ST. HELIER

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 13th JULY 2020

Question

Will the Minister provide the following information for each individual day from 3rd July 2020 to 10th July 2020 (inclusive) in relation to visitors arriving in the Island –

1. the number arriving at the harbour;
2. the number arriving at the airport;
3. the number of P.C.R. (Polymerase Chain Reaction) tests undertaken;
4. the number of positive tests for Covid-19, if any;
5. the number of tracing texts sent to those arriving in the Island;
6. the number of phone calls made to those on the tracing list; and
7. the number of people who have elected to self-isolate rather than taking a test on arrival; and

in the event that there have been positive tests, will the Minister undertake to provide details of all and any actions taken as a result?

Answer

Below is the detailed data for the period Friday 3 July to Wednesday 8 July inclusive. This is the most up to date information available at the time of answering this question.

A total of 1,743 passengers arrived on commercial services. Details are shown in the table below and address the questions a) – d):

5. The number of text messages sent to those arriving in Jersey cannot be split from the total number of text messages sent for all related Covid activity (for example, contact tracing on island).
6. The number of phone calls is recorded in each individual case record and cannot be extracted as a bulk report. The number of phone calls varies depending on the nature of the positive case or direct contact. Some cases receive several phone calls a day, others only twice a week. The Environmental Health team take a risk-based approach to establish the frequency of checks and this is updated at each phone call with a case.
7. Passengers who did not have a swab can include passengers who:

1. are not eligible for a PCR test (children under the age of 11)
2. chose to self-isolate,
3. are exempt (i.e. critical workers who are tested through the health system)

The following caveats to the data table above apply due to initial technical issues with the software system and the way data is being captured:

1. Numbers of arrivals are not assured for the first days
2. Accuracy of identification of inbound travel as reason for swab has not been 100% for the data between 3rd and 6th July but is increasing in accuracy now.
3. The number of swabs taken per day may also include
   1. swabs taken for passengers who have been part of the trial programme and now had their day 7 swab taken.
   2. travellers who have been off/on island multiple times.
   3. passengers who have not been swabbed on day of arrival (e.g. Monday's Clipper passengers).
   4. passengers whose swab is rejected by the lab and will need to be re-swabbed
4. Passengers exempt from swabbing cannot be broken down in detail yet (see note above to part g).

In the event of a positive case: Actions taken as part of the follow up work for positive cases are following a strict protocol which is also available online on https://www.gov.je/Health/Coronavirus/Testing/Pages/ContactTracing.aspx

Upon receipt of a positive test, the Contact Tracing Team will inform the individual of their positive PCR test result. Once the Contact Tracing Team have established the welfare of the individual, an initial interview is conducted. This identifies the direct contacts of the individual. This includes, if necessary, tracing any passengers on their mode of transport into the island. The manifests are obtained by the Contact Tracing Team so that they can also isolate those passengers who would have been in direct contact with the confirmed positive. All Direct Contacts are then contacted and isolation advice is given. They are then scheduled a PCR test. The Contact Tracing Team keep in frequent contact with the positive case and all direct contacts to ensure self-isolation is adhered to but also to support them with any health or wellbeing issues.