Jersey raises its drawbridge by a few feet

From Tuesday, in-bound passengers will, at a minimum, need to go to their home or hotel from the airport or harbour and self-isolate until a clear test result has come through.

In theory that should be within 12 hours, thanks to a beefed up testing regime that has won many plaudits and seen over 100,000 tests completed since 1 July with 127 confirmed infections.

The States Assembly’s unanimous decision to pull up the drawbridge, if only by a few feet, shows once again that the fight against coronavirus is a war, not a one-off battle.

Just as a Guernsey deputy was foolish to call Jersey’s Government ‘a bunch of bumbling idiots’ back in May after the larger island was slow to get on top of the virus, a former Jersey senator might live to regret this week’s accusation that Guernsey has ‘an almost cult-like belief in their decision to needlessly destroy their economic future’.

Apparently, in isolation we ‘happily report neighbours to the authorities (if they fail to self-isolate) and are irrationally scared of all visitors. It’s very sad’.

Ill-judged and intemperate words aside, it is clear not only that each Bailiwick is happy with its chosen course and should stop taking pot shots, but that the islands’ paths may converge in coming weeks as one gets bolder thanks to improved testing equipment and the other more hesitant.

Equally clear is that it is the UK, and not each other, that is determining policy.

It is the incidence rate of England, Scotland and Wales that matters most, not Jersey’s 14-day rate of 31.5 cases per 100,000 population.

The growing number of hotspots across the UK and the continuing failure to keep cases and hospital admissions down do not bode well for the winter.

Unless local lockdowns and circuit breaker measures such as pub and restaurant closures start to take effect quickly both Jersey and Guernsey will be ever more grateful for that small stretch of water.