Covid cases surge suggests something has gone wrong

In last night's JEP, reprinted here:

Covid cases surge suggests something has gone wrong
Letters to the Editor

• Despite ‘being surrounded by sea and having no land borders... we now have the worst infection rates in the British Isles’
•From Mike Keeping.

AS the year moves inexorably to a close, I cannot help but compare where we were some months ago to where we are now in terms of Covid-19 active cases. Back in the summer we were in an enviable position with minimal active cases when compared with most areas in Europe and the UK.

Geographically the Channel Islands were in a perfect position, being surrounded by sea and having no land borders. Yet in spite of this tremendous advantage, we now have the worst infection rates in the British Isles.

While now is not the time for recriminations or analysis as to what has gone wrong, clearly something has gone terribly wrong. One cannot help but compare us with Guernsey that has their number of active cases in single figures, three at the last count, whereas ours are nearly nine hundred.

The figures speak for themselves, clearly Guernsey got it right. What I find really tiresome are the veiled threats made by our Chief Minister and Health Minister that if we do not act responsibly even more stringent measures will be introduced, as if it’s all our fault.

The prime directive of any government is to ensure the health, safety and security of the community that it serves. With active cases crashing through the roof, businesses failing and a Chief Minister that can only answer his critics by saying ‘keep calm and stick to the strategy’, one cannot help but come to the conclusion that our government has indeed lost control.

Achieving the right balance between lives and livelihoods has often been the mantra of our government, which is political speak for a balance between ‘lives and the economy’ as it sounds better.

It is somewhat ironic therefore that our borders having been opened earlier than they should have been purely in the interest of the economy and not for the well-being of Islanders, set in motion a wave of infection that has ultimately done more harm to our economy than if we had kept them closed for longer, resulting in ruined Christmases, decimated hospitality, retail sectors suffering, thousands of pupils and some 80 teachers all in isolation and testing failing to cope, hardly the outcome of a government in control. 

As history has shown us pandemics keep occurring and, sadly, at some time in the future we will be faced with another. When we are perhaps lessons will have been learned, but until then it saddens me to say as a Jersey man our government should hang its head in shame in due deference to our sister island for showing us how it should be done.