Covid: Jersey to require pre-arrival testing for critical workers

Critical workers will still be required to isolate until they have tested negative on arrival

Critical workers travelling to Jersey will soon be required to have tested negative for coronavirus within 72 hours of travelling.

The change will be brought in from from 11 February to give businesses time to arrange testing, the Government of Jersey said.

The move is an additional requirement and the workers will still need to be tested on arrival, day five and day 10.

An average of 40 permits a week were granted to employers in January.

However, many of these are extensions of permits for workers on jobs taking over a week, the government said.

Strengthen border controls

Current critical worker rules state they cannot attend work until they have received a negative result from their test on arrival, are tested again on day five and can only leave their residence to go to work until they have tested negative on day 10.

Anyone else arriving in Jersey must self-isolate until they receive a negative result from a day 10 test.

Health Minister Richard Renouf said the new requirement was based on increased rates of Covid-19 infection in the UK and France and will apply in all but "emergency or extremely urgent circumstances".

"This additional measure is intended to strengthen the Island's public health controls at the border, while also allowing essential services and businesses to carry on operating safely," he said.

Concerns were raised over the number of critical workers coming into Jersey last year, after it emerged 10 building contractors came from Rennes, France on a chartered flight in October.

A freedom of information request later revealed 163 exemptions to isolation requirements were granted between 26 October and 15 November.

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