So, who can go back to work?

Saturday 25 April 2020

Phase Two of the island's exit from lockdown starts today, but what does that really mean for island businesses and the Bailiwick as a whole?

The States have published pages guidance, based on Public Health rules, detailing which workers can return to their jobs and what measures must be put in place before they do so.

"It isn't about a big bang change," explained President of Health & Social Care, Deputy Heidi Soulsby. "The core message remains 'stay at home'. We've been very successful in flattening the curve by reducing contact between members of different households and this focus must remain.

"What we're doing instead is looking at areas which can resume some level of activity without presenting undue risk to the community. This means that we have carefully considered which businesses have the potential to operate in accordance with Public Health advice and won't disproportionately increase risk to the Bailiwick."

Under the new guidance businesses which work outside with no household contact, such as gardeners and builders, can resume their trade so long as social distancing measures can be followed at all times.

Subsequently, companies that supply the building industry and domestic needs are now able to open and goods can either be delivered with no contact or collected in accordance with social distancing. However, only trade customers will be allowed on site and must make an appointment first. The number of customers on the site at the same time should be limited and all payments must be contactless.

Another industry set to restart today is vehicle servicing, maintenance and repairs, including bikes, cars and boats. But, each vehicle will need to be disinfected when it arrives and leaves the site and strict social distancing measures must be followed at all times. The vehicles should be delivered and collected by the owner, or someone in their household.

Activities to allow listing, viewing, survey, sale and rental of property will also be allowed to continue under strict conditions and only with the householder's agreement. No members of the household should be present during the visit and hygiene requirements must be followed.

Property and estate agents are being encouraged to video calls to reduce the number of in-person visits as much as possible.

Finally, some non-essential offices will be able to open their doors once more, so long as it is vital for the functioning of the business and social distancing measures can be followed. However, only five workers will be allowed on the premises at one time and shared facilities must be regularly cleaned and disinfected.

Pictured: Office workers are still being encouraged to work from home.

Public Health is still encouraging office workers to work remotely wherever possible.

"In many ways, the easiest decision has been to go in [to lockdown]," added Deputy Gavin St Pier. "It didn’t necessarily feel like that at the time but in hindsight that was the easy decision, because it affects everybody equally. Coming out is much harder.

"Inevitably there will be some observation from some parts of the community saying ‘hang on, my neighbour can go back but my business can’t, that feels unfair’. We’re going to have some of that tension start to emerge within our community and that’s something we’re going to have to manage.

"My plea for them would be engage with the government. If you think you’ve got a case and an argument as to why your business can be safely operated then talk to government. Don’t just go out and do it but have the conversation through the helplines and government will work with you. Please be patient. There is an awful lot going on and there are an awful lot of things to consider, but we do recognise this is a difficult phase."

While guidance for essential workers has not changed and their children can still attend school if they need to, the situation is different for those returning to work in the next week.

"At the moment it's just essential workers and other groups that are allowed to have their children at school, so that won't change at the moment," said Deputy Soulsby. "That is something we'll have to look at in the future, as we get more and more people going back to work."

Pictured: Deputy Heidi Soulsby set out the guidelines in one of this week's media briefings.

Any businesses that do fit with the guidelines must register with the States before they can continue their work. This can be done via gov.gg/coronavirus.

"We are not waiting to issue permits because we do not want to hold back those who are able to return to work while we process paperwork," said States Chief Executive, Paul Whitfield. "But, whilst the primary objective is to support businesses being able to function, if they are found to be returning to work when they shouldn’t or simply cannot adhere to the guidelines then, in terms of protecting the health of the community and the gains made against managing our response to the virus so far, we will have no hesitation in closing down those businesses.

"Any reports of businesses operating outside of the Pubic Health restrictions should be reported via gov.gg/coronavirus or the non-clinical helpline, which is 717118.

"A purposely resourced team from the Office of Environmental Health will be making regular and routine checks that businesses are complying with the rules and any complaints will be investigated and acted upon."

It is still unclear how long this phase of the exit strategy will last, and Guernsey could return to full lockdown if concerns are noted by Public Health.

"What we’ve been unable to do is set out how long each phase will last," continued Deputy St Pier. "That will be entirely driven by what happens on the ground in terms of cases and the evidence that Public Health are able to pick up. So, this could be a relatively short period or it could be a longer period. But, again, this comes back to the more that community is able to comply with the guidance and regulations and Public Health advice. Then we won’t lose the gains and we’ll be able to get the rest of the economy back sooner rather than later."

Further information on the guidelines is available here.