A Travel Shambles
The news that a ship full of around 40 individuals arrived in Jersey around 7pm, but were not tested until the following day is disquieting, and I am glad that Tony Moretta took time to apologise for the mess. It had been assumed, apparently, that the Clipper was bringing in people under the essential employee scheme. That one person was camping rather shows the unlikelihood of that.
An announcement seems to have been made at the end of the journey, probably at a time when most concentration was on getting into cars and ready to disembark. And it certainly appeared nowhere on the travel guidance on the government website where forms have to be completed before travel. In other words, passengers, expecting from the online forms and guidance to be tested, were told at the eleventh hour, when they could not contact anyone in the know, that they'd need to self-isolate and go to the airport.
"Testing will be offered on arrival at Jersey International Airport and St Helier Harbour Elizabeth Terminal though you may be directed to attend alternative testing centres if necessary."
That's what is said - and to pretend otherwise is duplicitous in the extreme. How many people read that and think they will be told as they disembark that an alternative testing centre is necessary? And where does it say - the following day? Results come from the UK so there is already a delay.. Do we really want an extra delay in testing holiday makers who may test positive?
Remember - as Kirsten Morel pointed out - that the harbours had not been part of a previous testing programme, so there was no tried and tested experience to fall back on, and indeed, the facilities were being constructed during the recent States debate.
The camper apparently, after having explained he had no transport, had also been told to get to the airport testing facility by bus - this certainly needs explanation. What is clear is that the team who should have given advice were not present, so the advice probably was just of a general nature by any officials present at disembarkation.
Incidentally, the website is vague on how passengers get to their destination, and what advice they are given - and pointing to general documents on the website about the safe exit framework just is not good enough. What advice are they given if travelling by bus, or by taxi? If they test positive, does the taxi driver need to self-isolate?
Test, test, test... Or Quarantine
I see that most tests are conducted off-island which certainly accounts for the delay. But those passengers next to the positive case - 12 of them - now have to self-isolate for 14 days. So why can't they be tested at day 7, and cut the quarantine short. Can it be that quarantine costs nothing, but testing costs the government more, so it is a cheaper option rather than a better one?
And speaking of cost: after an initial free period, Iceland now charges passengers for tests. Is Jersey going to do the same? How much do tests cost per passenger? These are the questions which we could do with answers to, but probably won't find easily.
The Dangers of Limited Times of Testing
One thing which did emerge was that Tony Moretta said the facility could not be 24/7, and hence was not open when the later ferry arrived. But ships often have delays in sailing, and aircraft have been known to arrive close to midnight, so it raises the question of how this limited testing range is supposed to work. Of course, if delays occur, some harbours or airport staff have to stay on for the arrivals, and we clearly need better from the test and trace team. Either they return when called back, and are - like doctors - "on call" for a late arrival - or they stay on. But a time limited testing facility just won't work.
Short-Sighted Responses
Another thing which emerged was the potential decision by the government to restrict the Clipper purely to freight services. That is another example of being short-sighted. A conventional ferry like that has proven to be a lifeline for some passengers when the weather is inclement and the fast ferry cannot travel - a search of the news stories reveals countless times when that sails, but the fast ferries cannot, and it can also supplement travel when there is a backlog. I do wish there was a little more thought before such knee-jerk reactions.
Winning The Lottery.... but not every week!
The medical officer of health is quite right compare two cases at the start of travel with winning the lottery. There is bound to be a random element to the number of cases, but she has also backed herself into a corner. Clearly, if the number of cases testing positive keeps occurring every week or so, we do have to ask what the chances are of so many wins at the lottery. Even three sixes in a row might be random chance, but if we tossed the die for 20 times, and got 15 sixes, we would expect the die was weighted in some way. Likewise, an excess of cases above the random expectations would lead us to suggest the modelling was flawed.
At present, one can only wait and see, but even so, the response seems to excuse the figures because she doesn't say we will need to look at the overall figures and re-assess risk accordingly. She just presents this as an explanation. It's not something that BBC Radio's "More or Less" would approve of.
A Degree of Slackness
Test, test, test... Or Quarantine
I see that most tests are conducted off-island which certainly accounts for the delay. But those passengers next to the positive case - 12 of them - now have to self-isolate for 14 days. So why can't they be tested at day 7, and cut the quarantine short. Can it be that quarantine costs nothing, but testing costs the government more, so it is a cheaper option rather than a better one?
And speaking of cost: after an initial free period, Iceland now charges passengers for tests. Is Jersey going to do the same? How much do tests cost per passenger? These are the questions which we could do with answers to, but probably won't find easily.
The Dangers of Limited Times of Testing
One thing which did emerge was that Tony Moretta said the facility could not be 24/7, and hence was not open when the later ferry arrived. But ships often have delays in sailing, and aircraft have been known to arrive close to midnight, so it raises the question of how this limited testing range is supposed to work. Of course, if delays occur, some harbours or airport staff have to stay on for the arrivals, and we clearly need better from the test and trace team. Either they return when called back, and are - like doctors - "on call" for a late arrival - or they stay on. But a time limited testing facility just won't work.
Short-Sighted Responses
Another thing which emerged was the potential decision by the government to restrict the Clipper purely to freight services. That is another example of being short-sighted. A conventional ferry like that has proven to be a lifeline for some passengers when the weather is inclement and the fast ferry cannot travel - a search of the news stories reveals countless times when that sails, but the fast ferries cannot, and it can also supplement travel when there is a backlog. I do wish there was a little more thought before such knee-jerk reactions.
Winning The Lottery.... but not every week!
The medical officer of health is quite right compare two cases at the start of travel with winning the lottery. There is bound to be a random element to the number of cases, but she has also backed herself into a corner. Clearly, if the number of cases testing positive keeps occurring every week or so, we do have to ask what the chances are of so many wins at the lottery. Even three sixes in a row might be random chance, but if we tossed the die for 20 times, and got 15 sixes, we would expect the die was weighted in some way. Likewise, an excess of cases above the random expectations would lead us to suggest the modelling was flawed.
At present, one can only wait and see, but even so, the response seems to excuse the figures because she doesn't say we will need to look at the overall figures and re-assess risk accordingly. She just presents this as an explanation. It's not something that BBC Radio's "More or Less" would approve of.
A Degree of Slackness
There's a degree of slackness emerging from the news reports of safe travel arrangements, and it is clear that there are a number of wrinkles to be ironed out - including very late text messages of test results, apparently because of IT glitches. As of yesterday, one passenger was still waiting for results.
At least we know that any positive results are checked and relayed quickly, so the contact team will directly contact any individuals concerned. It is only results processed through the IT system for every individual that have been delayed by these software problems.
One can forgive this at this early stage, but by the end of this week, mistakes should have been rectified, lessons learned, and I would expect to see a more professional policy and procedure without these clear weaknesses in the system. So far we have been lucky, but we cannot rely on luck to get us past faults within the system.
At least we know that any positive results are checked and relayed quickly, so the contact team will directly contact any individuals concerned. It is only results processed through the IT system for every individual that have been delayed by these software problems.
One can forgive this at this early stage, but by the end of this week, mistakes should have been rectified, lessons learned, and I would expect to see a more professional policy and procedure without these clear weaknesses in the system. So far we have been lucky, but we cannot rely on luck to get us past faults within the system.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment