Friday 23 October 2020
The Bailiwick of Guernsey will move into phase 5c, the next phase of its Exit from Lockdown Framework, on Wednesday 28th October.
One of the key changes for the new phase is the introduction of testing on arrival at the airport and harbour, for the vast majority of arrivals into the Bailiwick. In order to make the testing on arrival process as effective and efficient as possible, the Travel Tracker - a new web portal - has been developed.
The Travel Tracker asks anyone travelling to the Bailiwick to provide information, such as their travel history, before their journey. The Travel Tracker can be filled out two calendar days or less before the journey. The Travel Tracker will become available from 8am on Monday 26th October, for those travelling on Wednesday 28th. It will be available here https://covid19.gov.gg/guidance/travel.
Anyone arriving in Guernsey before Wednesday does not need to fill out the Travel Tracker as the paper forms that arrivals are required to fill out currently, as part of phase 5b, will still be a requirement.
For those travelling to Guernsey from Wednesday onwards, new guidance is being provided online to help prepare people for arriving in the Bailiwick, including videos guides for entering the Bailiwick by sea and air. These can also be found on https://covid19.gov.gg/guidance/travel.
The States of Guernsey are also very grateful to the efforts of Aurigny, Blue Islands and Condor in informing customers booked to travel on Wednesday and beyond of the new process for coming into the Bailiwick.
From Wednesday, new categories and thresholds for countries and regions will also come into effect, with the 'Group A, B and C countries' replaced by 'Categories 1 - 4'. At this current point, all of the destinations which Guernsey has direct links to would be Category 3 or 4. As is currently the case, travel within the Bailiwick (between Guernsey, Alderney and Sark) is not affected by the latest changes to travel restrictions.
Paul Whitfield, Chief Executive of the States of Guernsey said:
"We're now at the stage where we're 'switching over' from phase 5b to phase 5c and operationally this is probably the most complicated step we've taken since we first went into lockdown. Our teams have had to build entirely new processes and develop digital solutions incredibly quickly.
On Wednesday the first arrivals under phase 5c rules will come into the Bailiwick. They will be the first to use the Travel Tracker and to be tested on arrival. I'm confident that things will go smoothly, and if and where they don't our Welcome team on the ground will support anyone who needs extra help as they arrive."
The dedicated Welcome team has been trained for supporting people through the new arrivals process. They will also provide support to people who have not been able to input their travel details online before arriving, and kiosks will be in place at the Ports so where needed, this can be completed on arrival.
Anyone arriving in Guernsey from the commencement of phase 5c should be aware that the introduction of testing on arrival may mean slight delays in getting through the Ports. For this reason, we would encourage passengers to use the Travel Tracker to provide their travel details so as to make the arrival process as quick as possible.
Meanwhile, a limited number of parking spaces at the East Arm will be suspended on Wednesday and Thursday. The East Arm is the site of the testing facility for car passengers coming to Guernsey by ferry. From Friday 30 October, when a higher number of vehicle arrivals are expected, all of the parking on the East Arm will be suspended until at least Monday 2 November. This will be reviewed to see if beyond that date, some of the East Arm spaces can be made available again.
