Border controls during Covid-19 (FOI)

Request

A

Do the States of Jersey and the Justice and Home Affairs Department or other relevant department have any information as whether Jersey ports, airports and border controls were closed to non Jersey residents after the Coronavirus outbreak?

B

If so, when were these measures implemented in the Jersey?

C

If not, do the States of Jersey and the Justice and Home Affairs Department or other relevant department have any information as to why such measures were not implemented?

D

Do the States of Jersey and the Justice and Home Affairs Department or other relevant department have any information as to whether Jersey ports, airports and border controls allowed flights and entries to continue from high risk countries affected by the Coronavirus such as China, Iran, Italy and Spain after the Coronavirus outbreak?

E

If so, when were these measures implemented in Jersey?

F

If not, do the States of Jersey and the Justice and Home Affairs Department or other relevant department have any information as to why such measures were not implemented?

Response

A to F

The Covid-19 (Screening, Assessment and Isolation) (Jersey) Regulations 2020 which came into force on 28th March 2020 state, “From the commencement of these Regulations until the commencement of the first Order, every area outside Jersey is to be treated as being an infected area and to have been such an area since 20th March 2020”. These regulations also introduced a 14-day self-isolation requirement for any arrivals from anywhere outside Jersey.

In normal circumstances, Jersey receives direct flights, mostly from within the Common Travel Area, but also a small number of European destinations including Madeira, Spain and Germany. A majority of these are charter flights which only operate in summer months to service the tourism industry and so had not commenced operation before the outbreak of Coronavirus. None have yet restarted. There have been no direct flight routes to Jersey from mainland Spain, Italy, China or Iran in 2020.

Jersey’s ports, airports and borders were not closed however commercial operators made a business decision to stop operating due to low passenger numbers. Government of Jersey / Blue Islands ‘lifeline’ flights to and from Southampton commenced on 15 April 2020 and Gatwick on 26 May 2020 but only for persons who qualify for necessary travel purposes, mainly for essential workers and medical patients and subject to pre-travel authorisation from the Customs and Immigration Service.

All travel to and from Jersey on commercial / private sea transport and private aircraft requires similar pre-travel authorisation from the Customs and Immigration Service.

Further information on all the above may be found on the Coronavirus Travel Advice page on the Government of Jersey website:

Travel advice for coronavirus (COVID-19)