Monday 02 November 2020
Students have today been reassured that the additional flights scheduled from regional airports in the first week of December will operate as planned.
In an email to students today, they have been reassured that the States of Guernsey will closely monitor the situation in the UK regarding the recently-announced national lockdown, but at this stage there are no plans to bring the scheduled additional flights forward. This is because the UK Government's position is very clear that universities are to remain operating until the end of term, with more learning online and a direction that students should not return home before the end of term.
Students returning to the Bailiwick must follow the same self-isolation requirements as everyone else arriving in the island. While we do not know at this stage the specific Public Health requirements which will be in place in early December, currently anyone arriving from the UK must, by law, self-isolate for 14 days. Students have already been provided with information about what self-isolation means in practical terms and further information and advice will be provided to them shortly.
Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen, President of the Committee for Education, Sport & Culture, said:
'We realise that the UK's announcement about the upcoming national lockdown may have caused further concern for our off-island students and their families. We have been contacted by some who were anxious that it would affect the additional flights scheduled as a result of the States of Guernsey's work with Aurigny, but this is not the case so we wanted to reassure them that all flights booked are secure.
'We are also aware that there are those within the community who are worried about a large number of students returning within a short window of time. They are part of our community and I welcome them back after what will have been an extraordinary term away from Guernsey, which may have been quite a challenge for many given the restrictions they have been placed under.
'It's important to recognise that these students are young adults and as such we should trust them to behave in a responsible way. As a community we have seen a small number of people, of varying ages, prosecuted for self-isolation breaches.'
