Sunday 24 January 2021
Guidance for businesses and workers has been issued, which supports the key message that in order to protect our community islanders should, apart from specific reasons, STAY AT HOME.
These restrictions align with those put in place during lockdown last year and have been put in place after the Director of Public Health confirmed community seeding of COVID-19 was taking place in Guernsey. This marked a definitive need to bring in immediate measures mitigating the spread of the virus.
The core instruction to our community at this stage is - "STAY AT HOME": you should not leave your home except to exercise, to buy necessary food and supplies, for medical appointments or to work - where that work is essential.
Where essential work is being undertaken, employers must ensure that they and their employees can comply with social distancing measures and hygiene guidelines and are strongly recommended to ensure that their workforce use face coverings at all times within the workplace.
The guidance on essential businesses and workers can be found at www.gov.gg/covid19businessguidance.
Deputy Peter Ferbrache, Chair of the Civil Contingencies Authority, said:
'Our message is simple and clear; stay at home. We have taken decisive action to go into an immediate lockdown to slow the spread of the virus. We were honest that we didn't have all of the answers at the time we took the decision - we still don't for every eventuality - but we have today published guidance to help businesses make decisions around their operations. Again, the message for businesses is to keep your staff at home unless your activities are essential for the running of the island or you adhere to the very strict conditions outlined in the guidance. Hopefully all businesses have plans in place for remote working following lockdown last year.'
Dr Nicola Brink, Director of Public Health said:
'This is a critical time in our response. We need all non-essential businesses to either stop operating or operate remotely, and all non-essential workers to stay at home, if we are to quickly get the situation under control. It really is so important that all businesses read the guidance and adhere to the restrictions in place. Everyone has a duty to ensure they do as much as possible to minimise their interactions with other people outside their household. These restrictions are a big part of ensuring that happens.'
