Monday 02 November 2020
The Civil Contingencies Authority is reassuring Islanders that there is no intention to change the Bailiwick's response to COVID-19 following England's announcement that it will begin a lockdown from Thursday.
Guernsey moved into phase 5c of its 'exit from lockdown' framework last week and there is no intention to move out of this phase or make changes to the rules for phase 5c as a result of the UK's decision.
Travel under phase 5c groups countries and regions into different categories and nearly all UK regions, including all of those with direct links to the Bailiwick, are currently Category 4 due to the prevalence of COVID-19, meaning that travellers need to self-isolate for 14 days after arriving. Travellers from Category 4 countries and regions are also asked to test on arrival. This will continue to be the case when England's lockdown begins.
The States of Guernsey is seeking clarification from the UK on what impacts, if any, its own lockdown measures may have on people travelling in or out, or through the UK, to see if this could have any impact for travellers to or from the Bailiwick. Already indications are that more people are making arrangements to travel to Guernsey before the lockdown comes into effect, however the testing facilities at Guernsey Ports are ready and able to cope with any additional numbers of arrivals.
Meanwhile, work continues to ensure local students will be able to return home and that they are fully aware of the requirements on all arrivals for testing and self-isolating, as reflected in a separate media release from the Committee for Education, Sport & Culture today. Through direct engagement by ESC officers, feedback so far from students has been very positive. The CCA would like to thank them for their engagement and remains confident that returning students, like all arrivals, are aware and supportive of the travel restrictions and self-isolation requirements in place to protect the community.
Deputy Peter Ferbrache, Chair of the Civil Contingencies Authority said
"The escalating situation in neighbouring jurisdictions, and England's decision to introduce a nationwide lockdown this week is bound to cause concern for some locally, but we want to be really clear that it does not change Guernsey's response. The decisions made for this Bailiwick are based on our own situation, our own risks and our own measures for testing and tracing and most of all, preventing the spread of the virus locally. Our circumstances have not changed at this stage. If at any point they do, we will of course assess rapidly what new measures if any are needed, but we are not in that place right now."
