To receive an update from the Assistant Chief Executive and Chief Strategy Officer.
Minutes:
The Assistant Chief Executive and Chief Strategy Officer (ACX) updated the board in respect of communications activity but commented that many of the messages had already been discussed by the board in the previous agenda items.
They went on to highlight a communications plan was in place that would run from the current date until the 4 January 2021. The plan had been split into two elements, one for internal staff and the other providing messages aimed at the general public, our stakeholders and including those messages from specific sectors, such as Regulatory services.
The message associated with the Islands Tier one status, was that this was through residents choosing to do the right thing, such as hands, face, space, with ventilate becoming a critical part of the overall actions.
The ACX acknowledged there was some confusion in terms of the rule of six and sought to clarify the details. If you were applying the rule of six and meeting with six people indoors you still had to socially distance and wash your hands thoroughly and regularly. The rule of six was not the same as a support bubble and the hands, face, space message needed to be combined with that rule of six.
For those that might have symptoms, they should continue to, self-isolate, book a test and participate in tracing, which was more important as we have local tracing and noted the good supportive added value that we can supply which was positive for us.
The ACX continued, the other element is why we need to do all those things, we need to continue to work together to keep the Island safe and we all have our role to play. We have our tier one status which will be reviewed every two weeks, indications are we will remain in tier one.
Those present agreed now was not the time to let our guard down, if we all continued to make the good choices, we have been making then we can sustain the tier one status into the new year. 2021 can start in a better position than 2020 finished, we would not want to be in the position in January where we could have done more.
All acknowledged Christmas was an important time for family and friends and people would want to mix. The board noted you could do that by forming family Christmas bubbles but all were to continue to remember hands – face – space which should be the everyday norm and undertaken as a matter of course.
The ACX stated they were also using insights they were getting from the Covid support officers and feedback received, with focus on four key themes:
• How to shop safely
• Christmas bubbles
• Going out and what that means, booking tables and how to get home, drink responsibly.
• Visitors to the Island from tier two, enjoy your stay in a tier two way.
We will also need to consider any new guidance, plus advice regarding vaccinations and testing. Which will feed into our communication programmes.
In summing up it was noted that use of the QR scan codes at Island venues offered useful support to track and trace activity and the use of promoted by all. In addition, the board appreciated the efforts made to ensure any communications were accessible to a wide audience, including those that might not have access to smart phones, the internet and alike.