In a government video, the ITV reporter and former JEP columnist, who recently finished chemotherapy, said small changes in behaviour ‘could make a big difference to me, and people like me’. The death rate for COVID-19 is, globally, about 3%, with the elderly and those with underlying health conditions most at risk.
In a tweet from his personal Twitter account Mr Burgess criticised online commentators for spreading their own ‘armchair expertise’. Popular Facebook group Jersey Ask!Advise!Advertise! has put a restriction in place which means moderators will only allow coronavirus advice to be shared if it has come from official government sources.
On Twitter, Mr Burgess said: ‘Very disappointing to see people in Jersey I always thought were sensible now tweeting wild speculation and their own “armchair expertise” about #coronavirus. Most of their theories aren’t borne out by either facts or expert opinion. *Stop doing it!*’
In the video, which has been viewed almost 6,000 times, Mr Burgess, who has undergone treatment for cancer in his lungs, trachea and oesophagus, says: ‘As you may know I have just undergone months of chemotherapy for cancer treatment, and now, like many Islanders, young and old, with an underlying health condition I need your help as the community as a whole comes together to help tackle coronavirus. At the heart of this is good hygiene, washing your hands regularly, catching colds and sneezes, not touching your face, regularly cleaning surfaces you come into contact with. And if you’ve been asked to self-isolate, which is just a fancy way of saying staying at home on your own, then please, please follow that advice.
‘A small change on your part could make a big difference to me, and people like me.’
In a blog post at the start of the month, Mr Burgess said he had completed his last round of chemotherapy and had had positive test results. He wrote in his blog: ‘The tumours have shrunk to the point where the before-and-after CT scans are in such stark contrast to each other. My oncologist thinks what’s left is mainly scar tissue, though he’s going to liaise with the surgical team to see if they want to try to go in and remove them.
‘I asked him to translate his expertise into layman’s terms on a scale of one to five stars. “Oh, this is a four-star result. Very good,” he replied. That’s what I wanted to hear.’
