I know for many of us, this lockdown has felt different. For now, our borders will remain at level 4 with the existing testing and isolation arrangements. The legal restrictions currently in place will be lifted at one minute past midnight on Sunday night into Monday morning. People can return to their place of work. Businesses can reopen including the hospitality, indoor leisure and lifestyle sectors. All children can return to school, pre-school, nursery or their childminder. We agreed that, based on the data, our society can fully reopen on Monday. The Council of Ministers met today and reviewed the latest data, taking advice from Public Health and other senior officials. Our target of 19 April was based on there being a continued reduction in case numbers and the ability to link any new cases of COVID-19 to travel or an existing chain of transmission. What has been crucial throughout has been data, not simply picking a date. I know how important it is to be able to plan, especially for parents and for our businesses. We have also been able to reopen schools for vulnerable children, those needing to complete important assessments, and the children of essential workers.Īs we have worked through each step of this managed exit from lockdown, we have made clear our hope to be able to lift all restrictions on or around the 19 April. And we have allowed a small number of retail outlets to reopen – albeit with the usual mitigations of social distancing and face coverings. We have allowed gatherings of up to 10 people to take place outside. Over the past few weeks, we have gradually eased restrictions, enabling people to team up and form bubbles. Monday then will be an important milestone in this outbreak. I’ll hand over to our Director of Public Health to talk a little more about this and to give you the latest figures. This means that, all being well, Monday will be our twenty-first day without an unexplained case of COVID-19 on our Island.Īs you may recall, 21 days is significant. The last case where we were unable to identify a clear chain of transmission was towards the end of March. The key here, of course, is ensuring we are not seeing unexplained cases popping up that could mean the virus is spreading through our community unchecked. Our numbers have continued to go in the right direction. I am joined on Zoom by our Director of Public Health. This was due to a lengthy and ongoing sitting of the House of Keys. I must apologise that this briefing is later than we had planned.

Will we have another lockdown 2021