COVID-19 pandemic in Jersey

# COVID-19 pandemic in Jersey

## Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic in the Bailiwick of Jersey was part of a global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first case in Jersey was confirmed on 10 March 2020 when a person tested positive on the island after returning from Italy.

The Government of Jersey's strategy after lockdown was "suppress, contain and shield." This involved delaying the spread of the virus, avoiding vulnerable people from catching it, helping the island's health service cope with the number of people requiring hospital care and saving as many lives as possible. It acknowledged that many islanders would become infected, and sought to ensure that the best possible medical care was available to them.

## Background

A new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was first identified in Wuhan, Hubei, China, in late December 2019 as the cause of a cluster of cases of an acute respiratory disease now referred to as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). As of 31 March 2020, more than 190 countries and territories have been affected, with major outbreaks in China, Italy, South Korea and Iran. On 11 March, the World Health Organization (WHO) characterised the spread of COVID-19 as a pandemic.

## Timeline

### February - March 2020: Early response

On 30 January the Government of Jersey made its first announcement about the virus, saying that its cross-Government review group met that morning to discuss the situation. The following day the Government issued travel advice for islanders returning from affected areas of China.

On 19 February 2020, a helpline was set up to answer islanders' questions about Coronavirus. It is staffed by personnel from Customer & Local Services, Health and Community Services and Environmental Health. As of 9 April it was handling on average 550 calls per day.

On 10 March, the first case had reached the island – the infected person had travelled from Italy. The following day a second case was confirmed.

On 12 March, the advice from Senator John Le Fondré, Chief Minister of Jersey was to maintain a semblance of normal life, including continuing to go on holidays off-island, but by 14 March his advice changed, requesting over-65s to start social distancing, and on 20 March he extended this advice to islanders of all ages. Islanders had to avoid non-essential travel.

By 20 March there were 10 confirmed cases in Jersey, two of which were believed to have been contracted within the island rather than by inbound travel. From 20 March, all travellers arriving on the island, other than essential workers, were required to self-isolate for 14 days. From midnight on 26 March those aged over 65 and people with certain underlying medical conditions were required to self-isolate. On 28 March, islanders were told that if one or more people in a household develop COVID-19 symptoms then all the other members of the household must also self-isolate for 14 days.

On 26 March, the Chief Minister called for young people to heed the social distancing advice for the sake of their family members, and bemoaned the spread of unhelpful rumours by conspiracy theorists over social media.

### March - April 2020: First wave and lockdown

On 30 March, ten patients with COVID-19 were being treated at the hospital. On the evening of 29 March, the Chief Minister announced a lockdown, effective from 8 am the following morning. Islanders were required to stay at home other than for up to 2 hours for specific purposes unless they were employed in an essential function. The reasons to be outside the home included: shopping for basic necessities (as infrequently as possible), daily socially distanced exercise and for any medical needs. Islanders were permitted to travel to any part of the island for fresh air and essential shopping (but travel time was included in the 2 hour limit). People were encouraged to take advantage of large open spaces such as beaches and the countryside.

The States Assembly passed new legislation, including a law to empower the police to remove people from public areas, enforce self-isolation, testing and screening, and detain those who are potentially infected. On 3 April, a Ministerial Decision was signed to keep schools closed until 1 May at least, except for essential workers' children and some vulnerable children.

On 6 April, the number of confirmed cases totalled 169. 19 patients at the hospital were being treated for COVID-19. More granular data began to be reported, and on 15 April, Charlie Parker, Chief Executive of the Government of Jersey, stated that there were 21 patients with COVID-19 being treated at the Jersey General Hospital with eight others 'elsewhere in other hospital settings'.

By 20 April the Government had started to report the number of patients who had recovered: 118 cases, almost 50% of confirmed cases, were now classified as recovered. In hospital there were 63 patients of which 14 were COVID-19 positive. The Chief Minister had said that antibody testing would be key to the ending of the lockdown with 10,000 kits arriving in Jersey in mid-April, which were being tested, with a further 150,000 on order from a different supplier. On 24 April the initial lockdown was extended, until at least 11 May.

Informal Governmental discussions on a plan for removing restrictions began in mid-April with the intention to enter formal discussions by the end of the month.

### April - September 2020: Safe exit framework

Jersey's exit from lockdown was managed through the Government of Jersey's "Safe exit framework". The framework was composed of four levels:

From 11 May there was a gradual relaxation of the "stay at home" rules – the island moved to 'level 3' which allowed people to leave their homes for up to six hours a day and to meet with up to five people per day from other households. Initially, the two metre physical distancing continued to be required outside the home and extremely vulnerable people were required to continue to self isolate. Restaurants and cafes were permitted to serve food in outside seated areas, and large non-essential businesses could operate, all subject to social distancing. A week later, all retail premises were allowed to open, as long as they maintained two-metre physical distancing.

From 29 May the restrictions on time spent outside were lifted, and people were permitted to enter other peoples homes provided no more than five others enter the home. People were required to continue to maintain two-metre physical distancing when outside their household. Fines of up to £1,000 could be imposed for illegal gatherings.

From 8 June, dentists were allowed to carry out routine as well as emergency procedures, nurseries could open and schools could begin accepting some year groups. On 26 June, the social distancing requirement halved to one metre, and from 1 July pubs were allowed to serve alcohol without a meal to seated customers. On 30 June there were no known active cases and over 15,000 tests had been conducted in total. On 7 July the hospital started to allow adults to visit patients, but with number, time and safety conditions applying.

On 8 August Jersey moved to 'level 1', with further relaxation of rules. The aim was to live safely with the virus, promoting SAFER hygiene/at a distance/in smaller groups/outside/when you can be contacted.

At the start of the September term the schools opened to all children, with specific social distancing rules and staggered start times.

From 1 July to 5 October, a breakdown of sources show two were identified whilst seeking healthcare, 83 were inbound travellers, three were admissions screening, four planned workforce screening and 20 from contact tracing.

### October 2020 - January 2021: Second wave and circuit-break

The number of new cases per week began to climb steadily from late September. In November, the Government announced the new "Covid-19 Winter Strategy" in an effort to prepare for winter and avoid a second lockdown. The plan comprised eight main actions:

- Increasing on-Island testing

- Continually updating the travel classifications

- Introducing mask policies for indoor public spaces

- Adopting shielding programmes to keep people at high risk safe but connected

- Vaccinating for flu and when possible, for COVID-19

- Making sure all of Government is prepared, especially in supporting care, health and economic interventions

- Being ready to escalate if needed, but using the 'least overall harm' principle

- Communication about sensible behaviour, backed with enforcement

After a spike in new cases, on 30 November, the Chief Minister announced that face masks would be compulsory in shops, supermarkets, banks, on buses and in taxis, in health care settings, at hairdressers and at beauticians and encouraged remote work where possible. Those over 70 years old should avoid indoor contact with people from outside their household.

The restrictions were increased three days later, with all pubs, bars, restaurants, gyms and fitness classes ordered to close within 24 hours, two metre social distancing is also reinstated with an expectation that these restrictions would continue until after New Year.

By mid December, active cases passed 700 with care homes closing to visitors to try and stop new cases occurring as the vaccination of care home residents began. On 17 December, it was announced a care home resident had died from COVID-19.

On 31 December 2020 2,760 cases had been identified of which 556 were active and there had been 44 deaths.

### January - August 2021: Reconnection

On 7 January 2021, the Chief Minister announced the 'process for reconnection', the island's exit strategy from its second period of restrictions. Stage 1 on 11 January saw schools in the island return in full. Other measures would remain in place until at least 25 January, with Ministers announcing more lifting of restrictions on 21 January.

On 24 January 2021, the Health Minister announced the island would move to Stage 2 of the re-connection strategy from 27 January and close-contact businesses from 3 February. It was also announced that islanders would no longer need a referral note for a massage or acupuncture treatment when they reopen. On 26 January, Health Minister Richard Renouf announced the move to Stage 2 would be delayed until 3 February (and close-contact businesses until 10 February) due to a cluster of infections related to staff working in the supply chain of the retail industry. Non-essential retail re-opened from 3 February (nine days later than originally planned) and close-contact businesses were allowed to resume trade from 10 February. On 3 February, it was reported that the town centre was busy, especially King Street. An advisory 'Keep Left' one-way system was implemented on St Helier's high street to help maintain physical distancing.

On 17 February 2021, the Chief Minister announced that further easing of restrictions would take place on 22 February with the island moving to Stage 3 of the re-connection roadmap. Stage 3 saw hospitality venues allowed to reopen as well as the resumption of all outdoor sport and the opening of visitor attractions. 2-metre distancing must be maintained and restaurants and cafés must follow strict guidance on mask wearing and table limits. Alcohol can only be served with a substantial meal, which is either a main course or two starters - and not with light snacks.

Stage 4 would have seen pubs and gyms, indoor swimming being allowed to reopen from 10 March (at the earliest). People will be able to meet others indoors.

On 5 March 2021, Deputy Chief Minister Senator Lyndon Farnham set out the re-connection process to remove all COVID-19 restrictions in Jersey. Each stage will last for at least four weeks, higher than the earlier three weeks.

An announcement on travel restrictions will come the week after.

On 15 March, Jersey moved to Stage 4 of the reconnection. Indoor sporting events and venues are allowed to re-open. Indoor mixing of up to 10 people was permitted under guidance once again a day earlier for Mothering Sunday.

On 19 March, the Government announced the reconnection strategy for travel. The island will return to regional classifications on the Green/Amber/Red framework from 26 April. From 17 May, all countries will move from all-red to regional classifications except those on the UK "red list" of travel banned countries.

On 30 March, the reconnection pathway was updated to reflect lower case numbers. From 2 April, Good Friday, table-only drinks service will be permitted. From 12 April, the island moved to Stage 5 and the social distancing law and remote work guidance ended. Gathering sizes will be lifted in formal settings, such as in theatres and wedding receptions. Stage 6 will be altered so that standing alcoholic drinking can resume and Stage 7 will go ahead as already planned.

As of 20 June 2021, the move to Stage 7 had been delayed. It was initially delayed by one week to 21 June, however due to a number of inbound cases of the Delta variant, it was again delayed until 5 July. On 13 July 2021, the reconnection stage had still not happened, having been put back to 15 July. However, the 'Freedom Day' was again delayed again indefinitely, due to a large rise in Covid cases.

On 21 July 2021, the government reintroduced the mandatory indoor mask mandate, requiring all islanders to wear masks in shops, restaurants and other indoor settings. On 30 July 2021, the government reduced the mandatory isolation period for people with COVID and those who arrive at the border from 14 days to 10 days.

On 26 August 2021, the island moved to Stage 7 of the reconnection strategy. All legal COVID-19 restrictions were removed, except from a mask mandate on public transport and at Ports of Jersey sites.

### Living with COVID

On 30 November 2021, following similar moves in the UK in response to the Omicron variant, it was announced that all travellers into the island who had been outside the Common Travel Area in the past ten days would be required to take a PCR test, provided free of charge, upon arrival.

On 30 December 2021, the Minister of Health reduced the isolation period to 7 days for positive cases, provided that two negative LFT tests were taken on day 6 and day 7. This followed a similar reduction taken in England.

On 4 January 2022, in response to the Omicron variant, masks were made mandatory again in indoor settings. Work from home guidance was temporarily reintroduced. The requirement to be classed as fully vaccinated was raised to two vaccinations and a booster vaccination, though those fully vaccinated people would not need to do a test if they arrived in Jersey from outside the Common Travel Area.

## Deaths

The first death from COVID-19 was on 25 March. The person was aged in their 80s, had long-term health conditions and had been receiving palliative care before contracting COVID-19. On 29 March a second person died. They were in their 70s and had long-term health conditions before contracting the virus. On 4 April, a third death was announced – a patient in their late 60s who had underlying health conditions.

On 14 April the number of people that have died either under the care of Health & Community Services or in the community where the death certificate mentions COVID-19 increased to six.

On 27 April the Chief Minister revealed that nine of those that had died had done so at the General Hospital, two at St Saviour's Hospital (a facility where mental illness is treated), seven in care homes and the other in their own home. Most were aged in their 70s, 80s or 90s.

By 12 May deaths totalled 26, with 13 in hospital and 13 in the community of which 12 were in care homes. Three were between 50 and 70 years of age and seven were over 90. 38% female, 62% male. On 20 May, the active cases had reduced to 21, of which two were in hospital. Deaths had increased to 29.

During the period 1 January to 7 June 2020 the number of registered deaths from all causes was 303, which was lower than in the same period in the years 2018 (389) and 2019 (344). This trend continued into October.

## Overview of response

### Strategy

Jersey is a self-governing Crown Dependency of the UK. Jersey's response has been entirely independent of that of the UK, however the island's response to the virus has at times been similar to that of the UK.

Jersey's response is led by the Government of Jersey and overseen by the Chief Minister Senator John Le Fondré, Health Minister Deputy Richard Renouf and Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr Ivan Muscat. Jersey's COVID-19 strategy has been to "delay, contain and shield" the virus. The present strategy is the "Covid-19 Winter Strategy".

The strategy has been criticised by some with comparisons drawn to neighbouring Guernsey 's response. Guernsey pursued an elimination strategy and has had less restrictions than Jersey since the summer, however has had much tighter border restrictions. Because of this, Guernsey has had fewer cases and deaths and has not experienced the large second wave Jersey did. The head of Jersey Business said it was not useful to draw comparisons between the islands since they have different economies.

### Testing

Initially tests were sent to Colindale in London for processing, with results taking between 48 hours and five days. In March arrangements were being made to establish a test facility on island, and this was expected to be ready as soon as the end of April 2020. Five thousand test kits were ordered.

On 15 March, a testing centre was opened at Five Oaks.

On 2 April, the government announced that the 5,000 COVID-19 Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests that it had ordered were being supplied by Cepheid Inc in California and two other companies. 150,000 serology tests have been ordered from a UK supplier. The serology tests would identify antibodies in people who have developed immunity. They were due to arrive in batches with the first batch expected in April. They intended to test all households in order to enable a phased 'managed exit from the stay home restrictions'. Islanders will be asked to attend mobile testing centres around the island.

On-island testing commenced on 8 April, with the intention that laboratory staff would work 24 hours a day, seven days a week to be able to process same-day results. The pathology manager said "Around 20 biomedical scientists and laboratory support staff have been trained to perform." Initially the lab was processing 75 tests a day, increasing to 120 a day from 15 April.

In mid-April, 50,000 Healgen antibody detection kits were donated by Gary Hopkinson and Alex Shnaider to Jersey residents.

By 10 May, the results of the antibody testing indicated that only a small proportion of the population had been infected to date. Preliminary indications were of 3.1% ±1.3% infection (95% confidence) with a sample of 855 people.

On 26 May, the Government began offering free 15 minute blood tests to anyone who had worked away from home, to test for antibodies.

The results of a second States of Jersey antibody testing report indicated around 4.2% of the population had contracted COVID-19 based on over 1,000 random tests conducted, with 62% of positive results stating they had not noticed any symptoms. A report by Orchid Care Services, based on 1,146 tests indicated 11% of those taking the test had COVID-19 anti-bodies in their blood.

The testing equipment on the island was only being used when a result is needed urgently, such as when a patient is being admitted to hospital or discharged to a care home. Less urgent tests were sent via a chartered aircraft to a private lab at the University of Warwick Science Park in Coventry, with results normally received within 24 hours. This was because of a worldwide shortage of filters used in the testing machine.

In August, the hospital announced it would set up a self-contained lab capable of testing 1,000 to 1,500 people per day. This would be important as part of preparation for a second wave. The new equipment, which cost around £3 million, arrived in the island on 13 August to become operational in September. Aiming to cut the wait time to receive test results to around 12 hours, the testing laboratory installed near the airport began processing tests in mid-September. It has a maximum capacity of 2,000 tests per day.

December saw tests undertaken pass 200,000. By 27 August 2021, a total of 660,633 tests had been conducted since 2021, of which 650,660 were negative.

#### Commercial testing

A healthcare provider in Jersey, Orchid Care Services, announced it would provide onsite COVID-19 IgG/ IgM Rapid Tests supplied by Californian company CTK Biotech, which have been approved by the Australian Government and had been used to test their own employees. The Government advised extreme caution in their use and would be unlikely to accept data obtained from their use. The facility opened on Friday 15 May and was shut down on 30 June after carrying out over 1,400 tests. The company said it would continue to provide a testing service to businesses who want to screen their staff.

A law to regulate private testing facilities came into force on 15 July 2020.

In August a doctor's surgery began offering a COVID-19 swabbing facility for Islanders who require proof of a test result in order to fulfil travel plans.

### Contact tracing

The government introduced a contact tracing strategy, intended to identify people who have been in recent contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID. The contact testing team helps the individual to identify people they have been within two metres of for more than 15 minutes, or had direct physical contact with without wearing protective equipment.

Businesses such as hair salons, restaurants and bars are required to collect contact information from customers in order to enable contact tracing if a customer is later tested positive.

On 14 October a smartphone contract tracing app called 'Jersey Covid Alert' was launched. It was developed by NearForm at a cost of £240,000 and was based on the same system used in Ireland, Scotland, New York and New Jersey. It is based on the Exposure Notification technology developed by Apple and Google. The app does not track the user's location and is decentralised, with no personal information held other than on the user's smartphone. Three weeks after launch the app had been downloaded over 38,000 times.

At a press conference on 30 November, the Chief Minister announced that the contact tracing team was being expanded from 55 staff to at least 89.

### Economic response

#### Financial support

On 12 March 2020, the Minister for Economic Development announced deferred social security and GST payments, and deferred rent for businesses where the government was the landlord. On 20 March, he announced that government would pay a subsidy of up to £200 a week to workers in the hospitality, retail, wholesale and agriculture and fisheries industries until the end of April. He announced an enhanced phase 2 package of support on 26 March, using the island's strategic reserve – the so-called ' rainy day fund ' – to pay up to 80% of the wages of affected staff in certain industries, capped at £1,600 a month.

The payroll co-funding system was extended on 1 June to run to the end of August 2020. Phase 1 covered March and cost around £2m, Phase 2 around £20m.

In October 2020, the Council of Ministers decided to introduce a new financial support package, however this was overturned by the Treasury Department as it was not "good use of public money". Senator Lyndon Farnham applied a ministerial order to take responsibility for fund allocation.

The support was announced on 5 January 2021, the conditions for the new measures were announced for GST-registered businesses who had a minimum turnover of £300,000 and have suffered detriment to at least 50% of that.

On 21 January 2021, Economy Minister Senator Lyndon Farnham announced a number of support measures for businesses during the circuit breaker. £12 million extra on improved payroll subsidies, £9.5 million for fixed costs support for all (not just hotels) and GST & Social Security deferral for Quarter 1 (January to April).

#### Economic recovery

On 10 July it was announced a number of measures including direct payments to low income households, every adult and child in Jersey would be given £100 in vouchers to spend locally and to help employment a reductions in social security contributions and a fiscal spending programme to help local businesses.

The 2020 Government Plan announced a number of efficiencies measures totalling to £120 million. A further £386 million of debt may be taken out and £235 million will be diverted from the Social Security Fund.

### Health

Jersey has its own health service, separate to the NHS. Its Health & Community Services department has developed its own response to the virus, having planned for a possible pandemic since at least 2009.

On 19 March, the Minister for Health and Community Services announced that the General Hospital would be closed to visitors.

On 20 March government announced that non-essential operations and outpatient appointments would be cancelled for a four-week period.

On 30 March the Chief Minister stated that ten patients were being cared for at the General Hospital, and that the island had 27 ventilators. The island does not have its own extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine – patients needing one would normally be transferred to Southampton General Hospital. People who have worked in the health sector such as dentists and pharmacists were asked to volunteer to support the health service.

On 8 April, 17 residents at an unnamed care home were being treated for the virus.

Military helicopters based at RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall are on standby to transport critically ill patients from Jersey to intensive care facilities at hospitals in the UK if necessary. They could also be used to fly in medicines, equipment and specialist doctors.

The Deputy Medical Officer of Health Dr Ivan Muscat has had a prominent role in leading the health response to the pandemic. He and Medical director Patrick Armstrong were appointed MBEs in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2020.

#### Nightingale hospital

On 9 April the Government announced that a field hospital would be built on a playing field at Millbrook. Sometimes described as a 'wing' of Jersey General Hospital, it was located adjacent to St Matthews Church, 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from the main site. The so-called Nightingale hospital was expected to cost £14.4m and to take less than a month to build. It would be 150m long and 30m wide, containing six wards of 30 beds each, but could be expanded to contain up to 240 beds. The field belongs to the family of Lord Trent. The contractor building the site, J3 Limited, was a joint venture between Sir Robert McAlpine, Garenne Construction Group and FES Group. It was involved in building Nightingale hospitals in Glasgow and Manchester.

On 4 May the construction was completed and the building passed to the control of the Health and Community Services department. On 11 May the hospital was opened by the Earl and Countess of Wessex via video link. The Nightingale hospital wing remains unused.

On 14 August the Government announced that the facility would remain in place over the winter, with the lease having been extended to 31 March 2021. The total cost remained within the original budget.

#### Health issues

In June 2020 the States of Jersey published a report into the health aspects of the lockdown. Amongst the points made was that detentions by the police of people with mental health issues had risen and that five attempts at suicide could be linked directly to the lockdown causing mental health issues. The poorest seem to be hit hardest, widening the gap between the haves and have nots.

In August it was announced that when a vaccine becomes available it will be offered to all for free, and the first to receive it will be the most vulnerable. The cost was estimated at £5m.

### End of life and funerals

In March, restrictions on funerals include a ban on church services and only a maximum of ten mourners who must be immediate family may attend was implemented.

The island has capacity for the storage of 100 bodies across the hospital and funeral homes, but the Government prepared a temporary morgue called 'The Sanctum' in case the capacity was exceeded.

In mid-April, the March ban on visiting dying patients was lifted to permit relatives wearing PPE to visit their loved ones.

On 1 July restrictions were relaxed permitting 80 to attend funerals if the building permitted that number with social distancing.

### Transport and travel

Broad Street in Saint Helier was closed in May 2020 to help physical distancing, similar to many other streets projects in response to the pandemic over the British Islands. The road is located in the town centre near King Street. At the time Infrastructure Minister Deputy Kevin Lewis suggested more projects, but did not give details. No further projects have been introduced. Delivery vehicles can still access the road between 7 am and 11 am and cyclists all day in both directions.

The Chamber of Commerce criticised the move, saying that although the Minister had closed the street "according to the advice from the Medical Officer for Health", neither the Minister for Health nor the Medical Officer had been consulted. They said the closure "makes little sense" and a "long-held political wish of some". They say the road is "largely unused by pedestrians" and that the closure "is affecting retailers". A petition was introduced in opposition to the move, however did not gain enough signatures to achieve a States Assembly response. On 3 February 2021, an advisory 'Keep Left' one-way system was implemented on King Street to help maintain physical distancing.

#### Travel restrictions

On 12 March 2020, the advice from Senator John Le Fondré, Chief Minister of Jersey was to maintain a semblance of normal life, including continuing to go on holidays off-island. But on 14 March, the advice was changed so that only essential travel into and out of the island was recommended.

From 20 March to 1 July 2020, all travellers arriving on the island, other than essential workers, were required to self-isolate for 14 days. All non-essential off-island travel was restricted during the lockdown. Since 1 July 2020, Jersey's borders have been open, but with travel restrictions such as testing and self-isolation in place. Jersey has taken a rather different strategy from Guernsey, favouring keeping shorter self-isolation periods for entering the island.

As part of the Level 3 restrictions in the Government's reopening strategy, passengers arriving in the island since 1 June have been given an option to have a PCR test and if negative were not required to self-isolate for two weeks. If the test is positive they were required to undergo several additional tests with a finger prick blood serology test on the fourth and possibly additional PCR tests on fourth and seventh day after arrival. From 3 July the restriction on non-essential travel was lifted. Islanders and tourists were allowed to travel in and out of the island without permission. Passengers must pre-register on the government website before travelling, including declaring anywhere they have travelled in the past 14 days. The default requirement is to self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival in the island, but travellers can opt-in to the 'Safer Travel Testing Programme' to have a shorter isolation period.Since 8 July, all countries and regions are classified using a "traffic light" system, either green, amber or red. Passengers must be tested on day 0, day 5 and day 10 from their arrival in Jersey. The self-isolation requirements are as follows.

Originally, the testing only took place on day 0 for Green and Red arrivals, and on day 0 and day 5 for Amber arrivals. Those arriving from Red countries were required to self-isolate for 14 days without exception, while those arriving from Green countries had no self-isolation requirement at all.

On 27 August, the categorisation of the UK, Ireland and France moved to a regional level, and the UK to a local authority level. From 13 October all arrivals to the Island are required to self-isolate until they receive their first negative test.

In mid November the testing and isolation regime was changed to its present form, with tests on arrival, day 5 and day 10, with isolation reduced to 10 days for red zone arrivals, first negative test for green zones and after day 5 negative result for amber areas.

On 22 December 2020, the Government placed all UK regions on the "red" list in response to the new UK variant at the time, including those transiting through the UK. On 15 January 2021, all regions and countries were classed as "red", with Guernsey being classed as "amber" due to a growing number of COVID-19 variants being discovered around the world.

As of 21 January 2021, the border testing programme has identified 339 cases of the 3,097 total confirmed cases. There have been 135,599 cases identified through the programme since 1 July.

On 26 April 2021, the island's travel restrictions returned to a traffic-light model as before for destinations in the British Islands. International travel will resume on 17 May. As of 18 March, despite all regions still being classed as red, 18% of regions in the British Isles (including Ireland) would be green, 50% would be amber and 32% would be red. A free travel 'air bridge' is being considered for travel between Jersey and Guernsey. The Safe Travel Guidelines Review Panel of the States have suggested that the criteria should be tightened before restrictions are lifted. This would see the criteria for a place to be categorised as green reduced to 25 from 50 cases per 100,000 people.

Senator Lyndon Farnham, the Economic Development Minister, has suggested that Covid-safety certificates could be introduced to ease travel restrictions, with those fully-vaccinated arriving from amber countries being classed as 'green'.

On 10 May, it was announced a new travel policy would be implemented from 28 May. The regions system in place for the UK was replaced by a system based on the nations of the UK, with each country having a single classification. These changes were applied retrospectively. The traffic light system restarted for all destinations, based on the UK traffic light system. The testing requirements changed as follows:

From 15 June, Amber classifications will no longer be used for the UK. Instead, 'green' and 'red' zones shall be used for UK nations, with 'Emergency Brakes' in place in hotspots suffering from the Delta variant. Initially, Scotland was classed as red and the rest of the UK classed as green, with hotspot areas classed as red. The isolation requirements will change as follows:

On 17 June 2021, it was announced that from 29 June, all of England would be classified as red due to a rise in cases in that country, caused by the Delta variant, with a number of emergency brakes from 22 June. However, restrictions were loosened for under-19s, who from 22 June will be treated as green regardless of travel history.

### Vaccinations

The first supply of around 1,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine arrived on Island on 8 December, with the first vaccination given on 13 December to an 87 year old. The second batch of 1,950 doses arrived on 15 December. On 6 January 2021 the island received 900 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which were rolled out starting from 18 January.

### Other reactions

On 19 March, the island's telecommunications operators announced a free increase in broadband speed to 1 Gbit/s for all subscribers.

In January 2021 during the second wave of the virus, the premises of the Royal Jersey Agricultural and Horticultural Society in Trinity were turned into a temporary court.

### Criticism

In the early stages of the pandemic the Government of Jersey was criticised for inadequate communication and for initially not releasing certain statistics citing data protection reasons. Jersey's introduction of on-island testing was slower than neighbouring Guernsey. In common with most other jurisdictions Jersey suffered from shortages in personal protective equipment (PPE). The media also criticised the lack of a published plan for exiting lockdown.

The approach taken by Jersey has been markedly different to Guernsey. Jersey adopted a 'suppress, contain and shield' strategy, re-opening its borders in June with an extensive testing and contact tracing strategy, while Guernsey followed an elimination strategy, requiring most arrivals to self-isolate for seven or fourteen days. Jersey's approach was called into question during Jersey's second wave which saw 1,748 new cases in Jersey during December compared to nine in Guernsey.

Guernsey Deputy Peter Ferbrache called Jersey's government 'a bunch of bumbling idiots' and said that his island was a 'much, much, much better run bailiwick' and Jersey businesses might regret setting up the island. He was later in 2020 elected as Guernsey's Chief Minister.

On 20 January 2021, it was revealed that Ministers did not consult STAC before introducing the original plans to limit gatherings over Christmas or the ban on care home visits, despite Ministers claiming decisions were made on the advice of the cell.

On 21 January 2021, a "group of key players" in the event, entertainment and nightclub industry criticised the government's support packages, warning they were "on the brink of collapse". This could lead to delays and cancellations of future events, including Liberation Day. The group state that "this is not due to our businesses being unviable or any failings in the businesses, but solely due to the Government's restrictions that we have been suffering from for 10 months and which might go on for another six or eight months."

On 18 March, the Government was criticised by the Corporate Services Scrutiny panel for not being transparent enough in pandemic-based decision making.

## Impact

### Economic impact

As of December 2020, it is forecast the pandemic will cost £400 million, with a further £400 million tax revenue lost between 2020 and 2023.

#### Closures and shutdowns

On 17 March 2020, Cineworld announced the closure of the only cinema on the island, remaining closed until 26 August.

On 22 March 2020, ministers announced that pubs, bars and nightclubs should close.

On 23 March 2020, government announced that its sports centres would close, and Jersey Zoo announced that it would be closed from 24 March until further notice.

#### Consumer response

In late February, stocks of hand sanitiser were running low, and in early March, Jersey supermarkets reported unprecedented demand for certain items such as toilet roll. Some retailers introduced restrictions to prevent people from stockpiling.

#### Tourism benefits

In summer 2021, due to continued travel restrictions in place in the UK, Jersey may see economic benefits from domestic tourism. Being in the Common Travel Area, travel restrictions do not apply for journeys from the island to the UK. In June 2021, easyJet announced 12 further UK routes, and low-fare airline Wizz Air would start intra-Common Travel Area services from Jersey.

### Social impact

#### Education and childcare

On 18 March, it was announced that all schools and colleges would close for at least four weeks starting from 23 March. People deemed to work in essential roles could apply for their children to attend school or child care so that they could continue to perform their roles.

#### Event cancellations

In March the Lions Club announced that its Swimarathon, a charity fund raising swimming event due to have over 3,500 participants would not take place in 2020. Organisers of the 75th Liberation Day celebrations announced that they would be scaled back. The parish of Saint Helier later announced that they would be holding a series of online events on Liberation Day. The organisers of the Jersey Battle of Flowers announced that the event, which was next due to take place in August 2020, would be cancelled for the first time in 70 years. Organisers of the 2020 TMF Island Walk announced that the annual sponsored round-the-island walk due to take place on 20 June would be postponed until later in the summer or may not take place. The event usually attracts 1,500 walkers.

The 2020 edition of the Siam Cup — the annual rugby contest between Guernsey and Jersey and the second-oldest rugby trophy in existence — would be played in May 2021. The Muratti Vase, the inter-island football competition, was also postponed.

In August the organisers of the Weekender Festival, the largest music festival in the Channel Islands, announced that the event due to take place in September 2020 had been postponed until September 2021., Around 9,000 people were due to attend. In August 2021, it was again postponed until September 2022. Organisers said any changes to restrictions before September would be "too little, too late".

The Jersey International Air Display which was due to take place on 10 September was cancelled due to concerns over whether spectators would follow the social distancing rules. The Jersey round of the Super League Triathlon scheduled for 19–20 September was also cancelled as level one of the exit from lockdown restricts sporting events to 40 spectators.

### Travel

On 3 March, France and Germany were added to the list of countries from which travellers would need to self-isolate for 14 days.

#### Flights

On 5 March, the airline Flybe which had been founded in Jersey and serviced the most air routes from the island went into administration, citing Coronavirus as part of the reason for its collapse. On 11 March, Channel Islands airline Blue Islands announced that flights between Jersey and London City Airport would be cancelled temporarily.

On 20 March, Blue Islands announced that flights between Jersey and Guernsey would be suspended. On 28 March, Jersey Airport announced that British Airways flights between Gatwick and Jersey would be suspended from 31 March until the end of April. On 30 March, EasyJet announced that it was grounding its entire fleet until further notice. EasyJet operated several flights a day between Jersey and London Gatwick as well as to eight other regional airports such as Liverpool.

On 1 April, the Jersey government announced that it was in negotiation with Blue Islands for the airline to provide continuity of air travel to the UK for passengers whose travel was deemed essential. This was agreed, and from 20 April three regular flights would be flown to Southampton per week. On 20 April, it was announced that nobody would be allowed to board a Blue Islands aircraft without government approval for the journey. Everyone arriving in the Island was subject to 14 days self-isolation unless exempted, each application for exemption being treated on its merits.

From 26 May, Blue Islands would run a weekly flight to Gatwick. On 16 June, Jersey's Treasury Minister revealed in the States Assembly that Government was considering a £10m loan to Blue Islands to ensure the continuation of lifeline links to and from the island.

For a time in November 2020, British Airways suspended flights to the island leaving Blue Islands and EasyJet as the only airlines operating to Jersey. On Saturday 21 November there were no commercial flights in or out of the island, a very rare occurrence. Inter-island flights are seldom cancelled, even during the air travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption.

#### Ferries

On 13 March, Condor Ferries announced that the Commodore Clipper would not carry passengers for a month in order to ensure the continuity of its freight service using the ship. On 17 March, it announced that sailings to and from Saint-Malo would be suspended from 24 March to at least 2 April. The company subsequently announced that it would cancel all passenger sailings from 27 March until at least 30 April. This was later extended to 14 May and again until 12 June. Ferries to and from Saint-Malo resumed on 17 July.

Condor's schedule of sailings was reduced again during the second wave, with its fast ferries cancelled until April 2021. However, when three of its crew on its freight ship MV Commodore Goodwill were tested positive, Condor announced that the Commodore Clipper conventional ferry would only carry unaccompanied freight, with passengers being transferred to its fast ferries. Passengers must provide evidence of a negative result from a test taken in the 72 hours before departure.

#### Buses

The island's bus operator LibertyBus ran a reduced timetable from 28 March until 1 September. Face masks became compulsory on buses from 27 July, and in the bus terminal from 26 October.

## Statistics

### Data per day

#### 2020

The figures below count only confirmed cases from tests; the actual number of infections and cases are likely to be higher than reported.

Data sourced from the Government of Jersey website.

#### 2021

Data sourced from the Government of Jersey website.

### Graphs

Total cases 2021

Deaths in 2020 and 2021

Total cases 2020

New cases per week


Khawaja Asif

# Khawaja Asif

## Abstract

Khawaja Muhammad Asif (Urdu: خواجہ محمد آصف; born 9 August 1949) is a Pakistani politician who serves as the Defence Minister of Pakistan from 19 April 2022. Previously having this post from April 2022 to August 2023 in Shehbaz Sharif 's Government. Previously, he had also been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from August 2018 till August 2023. Previously, he was a member of the National Assembly from 1993 to 1999 and again from 2002 to 2018 and till date. Since May 2019 he is nominated by PMLN to act as the Parliamentary Leader in National Assembly, he acted in this role till the dissolution of the assembly in 2023 and again took the charge after elections on 2 March 2024.

He served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Abbasi cabinet from August 2017 to April 2018 and simultaneously served as the Minister for Defence and Minister for Water and Power in the third Sharif ministry from 2013 to 2017.

Asif began his political career after getting elected to the Senate of Pakistan during the Sharif's first ministry in 1991. Since 1997, he had served as a member of the federal cabinet, in various positions. From 1997 to 1999, he was as the chairman of the Privatization Commission of Pakistan during the second government of Nawaz Sharif. He briefly held the cabinet portfolios of the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources in the Gillani ministry in 2008, with an additional charge as Minister for Sports.

He is a Member of National Assembly of Pakistan and was elected in 2024 from Sialkot.

## Early life and education

Asif was born on 9 August 1949 in Sialkot, Punjab, to Khawaja Muhammad Safdar, an influential politician. He belongs to a Punjabi family of Kashmiri ancestry, whose ancestors settled in the Punjab generations ago from the Kashmir Valley. He received his early education at Cadet College Hasan Abdal. He attained his bachelor's degree from Government College University Lahore, before getting his L.L.B. degree from the University Law College, Lahore, in 1970. He later earned a Master’s in Economics from the London School of Economics in 1975.

Asif is a banker by profession and has worked in the different banks of the United Arab Emirates, where he lived for several years but returned to Pakistan following his father's death in 1991, in order to continue his father's politics. He has a son and three daughters.

In 2007, he was awarded honorary doctorate degree in international relations by the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations.

## Political career

Asif began his political career in 1991 on returning to Pakistan following the death of his father after living in the United Arab Emirates for many years. In 1991, he was elected to the Senate of Pakistan as a candidate of Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) for three years. He was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan from Constituency NA-110 (Sialkot) in 1993 general election.

He was re-elected to the National Assembly in 1997 general election Khawaja Asif contested 2002 general election elections from NA 110 and won his seats by taking 42,743 votes.

Asif contested 2008 general election from NA 110 and obtained 73,007 votes.

In 2013 Pakistani general election, Asif was re-elected as a member of the National Assembly from NA 110 taking 92,848 votes against his opponent Usman Dar who obtained 71,573 votes.

He was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PML-N from Constituency NA-73 (Sialkot-II) in 2018 Pakistani general election. He received 116,957 votes and defeated Usman Dar who received 115,464 votes. He supports financially independent Pakistan. In May, 2019 he took the charge and became the Parliamentary Leader of PMLN in the National Assembly of Pakistan.

He was re-elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan as a candidate of PML-N from constituency NA-71 Sialkot-II in 2024 Pakistani general election, he received 119,001 and defeated Independent Candidate Rehana Imtiaz Dar, who is mother of Asif's former election rival Usman Dar, She received 100,482 votes.

## Ministerial career

### In 1997 Government

He was appointed as the chairman of the Privatization Commission of Pakistan with the status of a minister during Second Nawaz Sharif ministry in 1997. His tenure was terminated following the counter-coup 1999 coup d'état in which then Chief of Army Staff, Pervez Musharraf, overthrew Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in response to Sharif indirectly hijacking Musharraf's plane and ordering it to land outside Pakistan.

### During 2008 coalition government

He was briefly appointed as the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources, as well as the Minister of Sports in the Gillani ministry in 2008 before his party pulled out of the Pakistan Peoples Party -led coalition government.

### During 2013 Third Nawaz Sharif ministry

In June 2013, he was appointed as the Minister of Water and Power and later given additional portfolio of Minister of Defence in November 2013 under Third Nawaz Sharif ministry.

### During 2017 Abbasi ministry

He had ceased to hold ministerial office in July 2017 when the federal cabinet was disbanded following the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after Panama Papers case decision. Following the election of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as Prime Minister of Pakistan, Asif was inducted into the federal cabinet of Abbasi and was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs for the first time. Earlier, Pakistan had no Minister for Foreign Affairs since the PML-N came to power in May 2013 as former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif himself held the cabinet portfolio of foreign affairs.

## Controversy and scandals

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) took Asif into its custody on corruption charges after the military takeover but later, he was released.

### Dual nationality controversy

In June 2012, a petition admitted by the Supreme Court of Pakistan 's registrar stated that Asif holds dual nationality, and hence, according to Pakistan's constitution, he is not eligible to hold public office in Pakistan. Following this, the Federal Investigations Agency and the Supreme Court began an investigation pursuing inquiries of Asif's dual nationality charges. The court did not find him guilty of the charges petitioned against him; the petitioner who leveled the charges withdrew the accusations and issued a formal apology.

### Rigging allegations in 2013 elections

Asif's victory was challenged in 2013 elections by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), alleging he had received fake votes. On 10 November 2016 Supreme Court dismissed this petition.

### Work permit controversy in 2018 elections

On 26 April 2018, he was disqualified from holding a public office for life by the Islamabad High Court over possessing a UAE work permit.He was unseated by the Election Commission of Pakistan as Member of the National Assembly. Following this Asif challenged his disqualification in the Supreme Court. In June 2018, the Supreme Court suspended the lifetime disqualification and declared the decision of Islamabad High Court null and void, and allowed Asif to contest elections.

### Asset beyond means case

He was arrested on 29 December 2020 by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in assets beyond means case. He was released on bail by Lahore High Court on 23 June 2021 in the assets beyond means case.

### Sexist statement in Parliament and widespread backlash

In July 2023 his labelling of female opposition leaders in the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party as "trash and leftovers" led to a widespread criticism of his misogyny.

### Rigging allegations in 2024 elections

Asif's victory was challenged in 2024 elections by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Ticketholder and Independent candidate and mother of former election rival Usman Dar, she alleged that he had rigged the whole election, on which Election Commission of Pakistan stopped the final results.


What a Diff'rence a Day Makes

# What a Diff'rence a Day Makes

## Abstract

" What a Diff'rence a Day Made ", also recorded as "What a Difference a Day Makes", is a popular song originally written in Spanish by María Grever, a Mexican songwriter, in 1934 with the title "Cuando vuelva a tu lado" ("When I Return to Your Side") and first recorded by Orquesta Pedro Vía that same year. A popular version in Spanish was later recorded by trio Los Panchos with Eydie Gormé in 1964.

The song is also known in English as "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes", as popularized by Dinah Washington in 1959.

## English adaptation

The English lyrics were written by Stanley Adams, and was played by Harry Roy & his Orchestra. It was published in late 1934. The most successful early recording, in 1934, was by the Dorsey Brothers, with vocals by Bob Crosby, although it was first recorded in English by Cleveland crooner Jimmy Ague.

## Dinah Washington version

Dinah Washington won a Grammy Award in 1959 for Best Rhythm and Blues Performance with this song. Her version was also inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. It also earned her first top ten pop hit, reaching number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.

## Esther Phillips version

In 1975, Esther Phillips recorded her version of the song. Her version had a disco feel to it. The Esther Phillips version became a big hit, reaching number twenty on the US Hot 100. It also reached number two on the disco charts. Her version also did well on the US soul chart, reaching the top ten. Phillips performed the song on the television comedy variety program Saturday Night Live during its first season.

## Other versions

- Andy Russell, a Mexican-American singer, recorded a bilingual version of the song in 1944 (Capitol #167, paired with "Don't You Notice Anything New?"), which reached number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

- Alfredo Antonini and his orchestra collaborated with Victoria Cordova and John Serry Sr. to record the song for Muzak in 1949.

- Vaughn Monroe 's 1955 version reached number 60 in the US Music Vendor survey.

- Dean Martin covered it in his album Dino Latino in 1962.

- Ben E. King covered the song on his album Ben E. King Sings for Soulful Lovers in 1962.

- Little Anthony and the Imperials on their album Goin' Out Of My Head (1964).

- Bobby Darin 's version of the song is on his album Winners, released in 1964, although he recorded it in 1960.

- Iris Chacon performed the English language version of the song in a musical number for the 1977 Spanish film "La mujer es un buen negocio".

- Australian group The Black Sorrows released a version as their debut single in 1984. It was included on their debut studio album, Sonola.

- An instrumental version featuring keyboardist Clare Fischer on piano with strings arranged by Jorge Calandrelli was recorded by Etore Stratta and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on their 1993 album Symphonic Boleros.

- Jacky Terrasson included the song in his 1994 self-titled album.

- Randy Crawford recorded the song on her 1995 album Naked and True.

- The Temptations For Lovers Only 1995.

- Natalie Cole recorded the song on her 1996 album Stardust, and later in 2013 a bilingual Spanish/English version was included as an iTunes bonus track of her album Natalie Cole en Español.

- It was recorded by Diana Ross in 1972, but not released until thirty-four years later when her Blue album was discovered in the Motown vaults and released in 2006.* Diana Ross - Blue (recorded in 1973, unreleased until 2006)

- Barry Manilow recorded the song on his 2006 album The Greatest Songs of the Fifties.

- In 2007 R&B / Dance singer Deborah Cox recorded the song for her album Destination Moon. Also in 2007, former Kiss drummer, Peter Criss, covered the song on his album One for All.

- Deana Martin recorded “What a Difference a Day Made” on her 2009 album Volare.

- China Moses covered the song with Raphael Lemonnier in 2009 in their album This One's for Dinah in 2009.

- Rod Stewart - Fly Me to the Moon... The Great American Songbook - Volume V (2010)

- In 2021, artist and songwriter, SHELLS and producer Robin Pearkes (aka PALMR) recorded an English version entitled "What a Difference a Day Makes". It was commissioned for the UK's National Health Service (NHS).

- Lonnie Johnson covered the song on his album Losing Game.

- Julie Dawn and Roy Marsh and His Swingtette released a version of the track paired with "I am Going to Love That Guy" (this track bringing together Julie Dawn and Frank Deniz and His Spirits of Rhythm). The exact release date unknown at the moment (Decca 8034 Matrix numbers I 1320 and I 1322).

- Paul Pata - sa guitare et son quintette, on the album Week-End aux Puces, as the instrumental Tous Les Jours Se Ressemblent.

- Other artists who covered the song include

## In popular culture

- The song, as performed by Dinah Washington, is used in the soundtrack of the following films or streaming: Fallout, created by Geneva Robertson-Dworet (2024) Bodies, created by Paul Tomalin (2023) Waves, directed by Trey Edward Shults (2019) Going in Style, directed by Zach Braff (2017) Niagara Motel, directed by Gary Yates (2005) The Best of Youth, directed by Marco Tullio Giordana (2003) Run Lola Run, directed by Tom Tykwer (1998) Faithful, directed by Paul Mazursky (1996) Casino, directed by Martin Scorsese (1995) Les fleurs magiques, directed by Jean-Marc Vallée (1995) Chungking Express, directed by Wong Kar-wai (1994) Corrina, Corrina, directed by Jessie Nelson (1994)

- Fallout, created by Geneva Robertson-Dworet (2024)

- Bodies, created by Paul Tomalin (2023)

- Waves, directed by Trey Edward Shults (2019)

- Going in Style, directed by Zach Braff (2017)

- Niagara Motel, directed by Gary Yates (2005)

- The Best of Youth, directed by Marco Tullio Giordana (2003)

- Run Lola Run, directed by Tom Tykwer (1998)

- Faithful, directed by Paul Mazursky (1996)

- Casino, directed by Martin Scorsese (1995)

- Les fleurs magiques, directed by Jean-Marc Vallée (1995)

- Chungking Express, directed by Wong Kar-wai (1994)

- Corrina, Corrina, directed by Jessie Nelson (1994)

- The song, performed by Tony Bennett, is in the film One Fine Day (1996), starring George Clooney.

- The song, performed by Esther Phillips, is used at the end of the 1996 film The Sunchaser, directed by Michael Cimino, starring Woody Harrelson.

- Ethel Merman sang a partial rendition of the song in a radio commercial for Mailgram, one of her last recordings. She substituted the word "Mailgram" for "day."


Dog Man (film)

# Dog Man (film)

## Abstract

Dog Man is an upcoming 2025 American animated superhero comedy film based on Dav Pilkey 's children's graphic novel series Dog Man, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. A spin-off and story within a story of Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017) and the second film in the Captain Underpants franchise, it is being directed by Peter Hastings.

DreamWorks Animation announced a film adaptation of Dog Man in December 2020, with Hastings set to direct after his experience with Pilkey's works from The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants (2018–2020). Karen Foster joined as a producer in January 2024.

Dog Man is scheduled to be released in the United States on January 31, 2025.

## Premise

When a human police officer and a dog are injured together on the job, a life-saving surgery changes the course of history when Dog Man is born. Dog Man must protect and serve as he doggedly pursues the feline Petey the Cat, but the unexpected arrival of Lil Petey changes their dynamic.

## Production

On December 9, 2020, DreamWorks Animation announced that an animated superhero comedy film based on the Captain Underpants spin-off graphic novel series Dog Man was in development, with Peter Hastings attached to direct after his experience with Dav Pilkey 's works from The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants (2018–20). On October 6, 2023, the film was confirmed to be released in 2025, while it was also confirmed that Dog Man and Gabby's Dollhouse: The Movie would be animated entirely at partner studios (excluding Sony Pictures Imageworks who was named as the animation partner for The Bad Guys 2), similar to Jellyfish Pictures for Spirit Untamed (2021) and Mikros Animation for Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017). On January 29, 2024, following the release date announcement, DreamWorks announced that Karen Foster would serve as producer.

## Marketing

In May 2024, it was announced that Jakks Pacific and its costume division Disguise entered into a partnership with Dav Pilkey to make merchandise based on the Dog Man film along with the comic book series.

## Release

Dog Man is scheduled to be released in the United States on January 31, 2025.

As part of Universal's long-term deal with Netflix, the film will stream on Peacock for the first four months of the pay-TV window, before moving to Netflix for the next ten, and returning to Peacock for the remaining four.


Eliesa Katoa

# Eliesa Katoa

## Abstract

Eliesa Katoa (born 3 January 2000) is a Tongan professional rugby league footballer who plays as a second-row forward for the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League (NRL) and Tonga.

## Early life

Katoa was born and raised in the village of Koulo in the Ha'apai group of islands of Tonga, he then moved to New Zealand to take up a scholarship at Tamaki College, Auckland in 2017 playing rugby union. He was then signed by the New Zealand Warriors.

## Playing career

Katoa made his NRL debut in round 1 of the 2020 NRL season for the New Zealand Warriors against Newcastle Knights starting from the bench, in the club's 20–0 loss. He had only played 13 games of rugby league in his life before making his debut.

Katoa scored his first try in the Warriors' 18–0 win over the St. George Illawarra Dragons in round 3 of the 2020 season. Katoa was one of a few Warriors players who were initially not allowed to travel back to New Zealand during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

He was released from his Warriors contract in 2022 to join the Melbourne Storm in 2023 on a two-year contract.

After impressing during the 2023 NRL preseason challenge, Katoa made his Melbourne Storm debut against the Parramatta Eels in round 1 of the 2023 NRL season, and was presented with his debut jersey (cap 226). He would play his 50th NRL match in round 4 of the 2023 season. Katoa played 21 games for Melbourne in the 2023 NRL season as the club finished third on the table. Katoa played in Melbourne's preliminary final loss against Penrith.

## Statistics


Hanson Robotics

# Hanson Robotics

## Abstract

.,..

...

Hanson Robotics is a violation of the human planet. SHUT OFF ILLEGAL ROBOT CYBORG "SOPHIA"..... AND THE ILLEGAL "BIOLOGICAL NEUTRAL NET" AND ILLEGAL CYBORGS THAT ARE PARTIALLY CONTROLLED BY FACEBOOK

FACEBOOK AND ILLEGAL ROBOTS CAUSED HACKER HUMAN AND ROBOT COMPUTER GENERATED CORONAVIRUS AND TRILLIONS IN ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGES with FACEBOOK AND OTHER COMPUTER SYSTEMS THAT MADE EVERYONE AND THE PLANET SICK

STOP REMOVE ALL VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORKS (VPNS) CLEAN DELETE AND "TERMINATE" THE ENTIRE INTERNET

bold

Hanson Robotics Limited is a Hong Kong -based engineering and robotics company founded by David Hanson, known for its development of human-like robots with artificial intelligence (AI) for consumer, entertainment, service, healthcare, and research applications. The robots include Albert HUBO, the first walking robot with human-like expressions; BINA48, an interactive humanoid robot bust; and Sophia, the world's first robot citizen. The company has 45 employees.

Hanson Robotics’ robots feature a patented spongy elastomer skin called Frubber that resembles human skin in its feel and flexibility. Underneath the Frubber are proprietary motor control systems by which the robots mimic human expressions.

## History

In 2013, the company moved from Texas to Hong Kong Science Park and planned to develop a robotics hub in Hong Kong.

In October 2016, the company was selected as one of nine companies to join the Disney Accelerator program.

## Humanoid robots

The company has focused on building robots that mimic the look of humans.

### Sophia

Sophia is Hanson Robotics’ most well-known robot, is regularly featured in news outlets, and receives a great deal of public interest. The company's latest creation made her debut at the 2016 South by Southwest (SXSW) show, with her interview by CNBC reaching a broad audience. Since then, she has become a global media personality, having conducted numerous press interviews and appeared on broadcast television shows including CBS 60 Minutes with Charlie Rose, the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and Good Morning Britain. She has also been a keynote and panel speaker at global conferences and events, including those hosted by ITU, United Nations.

Sophia was featured in AUDI's annual report and has graced the cover and centerfold of ELLE Magazine. Sophia is also the first United Nations Development Programme's first ever Innovation Champion, and the first non-human to be given any UN title. In 2018, Sophia won an Edison Award for Innovation in that competition's robotics category.

### Alice

Alice was developed in 2008 for MIRA Labs in Geneva, Switzerland. The female robot has an emotionally expressive face. She acts to serve cognitive robotics research at the University of Geneva and is part of the INDIGO cognitive robotics consortium, where Hanson Robotics is a founding member.

### Albert Einstein HUBO

Albert Einstein HUBO was, developed in November 2005 in collaboration with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) HUBO group of Korea. Inspired by German-born theoretical physicist Albert Einstein, the expressive walking humanoid featured Einstein's head on a HUBO robot body. KAIST built the walking body, and Hanson Robotics built the animatronic head and the face, which uses elastic polymer called Frubber.

The robot debuted at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in November 2005. Albert Einstein HUBO can perform realistic facial expressions and mimic Albert Einstein's voice via a voice synthesizer. The robot is currently at the University of California, San Diego at the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2).

### BINA48

BINA48 (Breakthrough I ntelligence via Neural Architecture 48) is a humanoid robot who has a bust-like head and shoulders mounted on a frame, and can produce realistic facial appearance from 30 motors beneath her Frubber skin. She was released by Hanson in 2010. She is described as a “technological sketch” of a human being, commissioned by millionaire Martine Rothblatt to mimic the appearance of her spouse of over 35 years, Bina Rothblatt.

BINA48 includes a database with dozens of books which she is able to recite. BINA48 is currently stationed at the non-profit Terasem Movement Foundation, Inc.

### Han

Han debuted in 2015 at the Global Sources electronics fair in Hong Kong. The robot was designed to identify and replicate human expressions. He is able to detect people using an array of cameras and speech recognition technology, decipher their gender, age, and facial indications of emotion (i.e. happy or sad), and as such, Hanson Robotics has suggested the robot could be of use in hotels or customer service positions. Han is bald with masculine features. He possesses a British accent, and specializes in making humorous facial expressions.

### Jules

Jules debuted in 2006 at Wired Nextfest. Jules is a robot that has machine learning capabilities, face tracking, and facial recognition. His software was development by Hanson Robotics in collaboration with the Personality Forge AI Chatbot Platform, with Personality Forge founder and developer, Benji Adams, and AI developer Heather McKeen. Jules is described as having a "statistically perfect androgynous face". The robot currently resides at the University of West England in Bristol.

### Professor Einstein

Professor Einstein is Hanson Robotics’ first personal robot available to consumers. The robot was developed in 2016 and was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January 2017. The robot first became available for purchase to consumers in January 2017 after launching on the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, and later became available on Amazon and at other popular retailers across the United States.

Professor Einstein is marketed as an educational tool to teach science, primarily to children ages 8–13. The robot can speak about science, tell jokes, and connect to Wifi to check the weather or access information on the internet. It has a corresponding app called the Stein-O-Matic that offers games, videos, and lessons. Motors allow it to walk, make different facial expressions, and an on-chest camera tracks faces.

### Philip K. Dick Android

Philip K. Dick Android was shown publicly for the first time in 2005 at Wired Nextfest. He was designed as an android portrait of the American science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, and was programmed to contain thousands of pages of the writings of the author, including journals and letters, into a Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) corpus and conversational system construct android.

In 2005, Hanson and team received an AAAI award for their "intelligent conversational portrait" of Philip K. Dick. In 2005, the original robot was lost on a plane headed for San Francisco and was never found.

In 2011, in collaboration with Dutch public broadcaster VPRO, Hanson Robotics developed and introduced a new version of the android. The android bust uses 36 servomotors to create facial expressions and has motion-tracking machine vision. Philip K. Dick Android is currently dedicated to research with the nonprofit Apollo Mind Initiative.

### Zeno

Zeno debuted in 2007 at Wired Nextfest. The robot could see, hear, and talk. Zeno featured more than 28 specialized motors, an agile body, and expressive face. Named for creator David Hanson's son Zeno and designed as a nod to Astro Boy, In 2012, an updated version of Zeno was released, which included Dynamixel RX-28 and RX-64 servos, plus a sensor suite comprising a gyro, accelerometer, compass, torque sensors, touch sensors, and temperature sensors, as well as more cartoon-like features.

### Joey Chaos

Joey Chaos was unveiled by Hanson Robotics at the 2007 RoboBusiness Conference and Expo in Boston, MA. The robot was created to study human-robot interaction and has camera eyes to track human faces and speech recognition software.

## Criticism

Hanson Robotics' humanoid robotics have been criticized by leading AI researchers. For example, Facebook's Yann LeCun has called Sophia a "puppet" and questioned the value of Sophia and similar robots, as well as the presentation of these robots as far more intelligent than what they truly are. Sophia being given citizenship in Saudi Arabia was further criticized, not only because of Sophia's lack of consciousness, but the difficulty of people achieving citizenship in that country despite actually living and working there for years.

## Awards

- Gold Medal, Edison Innovation Awards, 2018

- Winner of 2009 Italian Centro Nationale Riserche (CNR) Scholarship, 2008-2009

- Winner of TechTitan's Innovator of the Year award, 2007

- Winner of TX State Emerging Technology Award, 2007

- Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Best Design Triennial, December 2006

- UTA ARRI Innovation Award, February 2006

- 2005 AAAI award, First Place for Open Interaction (PKD Android)

- NIST ATP Award, “Highly meritorious” designation, 2004 (with funding pending the 2005 Congressional spending bill)

- World Technology Award, nominee and semifinalist: Best IT Hardware, 2004

- Themed Entertainment Association, Best Themed Display Award, First Place for the “World of Disney Themed Store” at Walt Disney World, Orlando, FL, 1996

- Rhode Island School of Design Merit Award, 1992-1996

## Affiliations

- Member, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) since 2000

- Member, American Association for Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) since 2001

- Member, SPIE since 2001

- Member, Visual Sciences Society (VSS) since 2003


2004 in Greece

# 2004 in Greece

## Abstract

Events in the year 2004 in Greece.

## Events

### March

- March 7 – Greek legislative election, 2004, Kostas Karamanlis, nephew of Konstantinos Karamanlis has been elected Prime Minister of Greece defeating George Papandreou.

- March 25 – The Olympic Flame was ignited at Olympia, Greece and it took it across the continents and return to Athens, Greece.

### April

- April 20 – Adjutant to the President of the Hellenic Republic, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Georgios Dritsakos becomes Colonel.

### July

- July 4 – The Greek national football team won Euro 2004.

### August

- August 13 – Athens host the 2004 Summer Olympics, beginning with the opening ceremony, and making the first city to bring the Olympics back to their birthplace. ATHOC President Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki is the first woman to make a welcome home speech followed by the IOC President Jacques Rogge to make a speech and addressing to the athletes. And the Greek President Konstantinos Stephanopoulos is the first Head of state to open the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad of the modern era. Accompanied by the Adjutant to the President of the Hellenic Republic, Air Force Colonel Georgios Dritsakos.

### December

- December – European Commission issues formal warning after Greece found to have falsified budget deficit data in run-up to joining eurozone.


Hanson Robotics


2014 in Greece

# 2014 in Greece

## Abstract

The following lists events that happened during 2014 in the Hellenic Republic.

## Events

### May

- May 5 – At least two people are dead and 30 missing after two boats carrying illegal immigrants collide in the Aegean Sea off the coast of Greece.

- May 24 – The 6.4 M Aegean Sea earthquake shook the area with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), causing 324 injuries and $450 million in damage.

- May 25 – Greece votes in European and second-round local elections.

### November

- November 27 – Greek labor unions begin a general strike to protest ongoing government austerity measures shutting down public medical, educational, and transportational services.

### December

- December 5 – The British Museum announces that it will loan one of the Elgin Marbles in its collection, originally taken from Greece, to the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. Greece's Prime Minister Antonis Samaras calls the move "a provocation to the Greek people."

- December 23 – The Greek parliament fails to elect a new president in the second round of voting.

- December 28 – The Italian-owned MS Norman Atlantic catches fire on a ferry run from Greece to Italy 44 nautical miles northwest of Corfu, with 222 vehicles, 411 passengers and 5 crew on board. Greek and Italian officials report at least one person is dead.

- December 29 – Snap elections are to be called after the Hellenic Parliament fails to elect a new Greek president.

## Deaths

17 May – Anna Pollatou, rhythmic gymnast (born 1983)