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WQ.27/2021
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES BY SENATOR S.W. PALLETT
QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 1st FEBRUARY 2021
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 8th FEBRUARY 2021
Question
Following recent news reports that a new Covid-19 variant has been discovered in Rennes, France, will the Minister –
- advise Members whether he intends to suspend the exemption that currently permits critical' construction workers to undertake work immediately upon arrival in the Island without any period of self-isolation; and if not, why not;
- set out why such construction workers are deemed as critical', particularly in current circumstances; and
- provide the exact definition of the term critical worker' that is used in this context?
Answer
- There is no exemption that permits critical construction workers to undertake work immediately upon arrival in the Island. From 11 February, critical workers will be required to provide evidence of a negative pre-arrival PCR test as a condition of their permission to leave isolation for the purposes of work. They will still be required to wait for a negative arrival (day 0) result before travelling to and attending the workplace. Only once this has provided a negative result are they permitted to leave self- isolation for that work. The only exemption is if the work is time critical – where, for example, a delay in undertaking the work before that initial negative result is a risk to life. Then the company must provide details of all measures to be implemented to minimise the risk associated with that time-critical work. There is no present intention to change the exemption process.
- Construction workers are deemed critical' where the company has made the case that these workers cannot be recruited locally and where the time-critical nature of the work is such that those workers are needed now ie they are not available locally within the critical timescale of the project.
- A critical worker is considered to meet this definition if:
• the person's physical presence is required to keep services or businesses running
• and the person's specific skill is not readily available in Jersey
• the work is time-critical in terms of urgency and/or duration of work
• it would be impossible, unreasonable or dangerous for the worker to complete the isolation period before beginning work.