Wednesday 12 January 2022
- Civil Contingencies Authority to review border testing requirements on Tues 18th January
- CCA hopeful testing requirements can be relaxed if current trends continue
- CCA considering how and when to deescalate other COVID restrictions and guidance
The Civil Contingencies Authority has discussed changes to the testing requirements for arrivals into the Bailiwick and agreed that it will continue to monitor the current Omicron wave for the coming days before making a decision on Tuesday 18th January on whether testing requirements can be relaxed.
The CCA will consider a range of factors including the number of hospital cases, and pressure on key services and businesses, but currently the indications are positive and the Authority is hopeful it will be able to go ahead with relaxing the testing requirements
The intention would be to:
- remove all testing for travellers coming from the Common Travel Area (the UK, Isle of Man, Jersey and the Republic of Ireland).
- replace the current requirement for a PCR test on arrival with a Lateral Flow Test on the day of arrival for non-Common Travel Area travellers who are fully vaccinated.
- maintain the current requirement of a PCR test on arrival and on day 8, with isolation until a negative result on the day 8 test, for non-Common Travel Area arrivals who are not fully vaccinated
This would again align the local travel testing requirements with the UK, as has broadly been the case since July 2021. The CCA will continue to keep these under review and monitor closely any other further changes in travel requirements brought in by other jurisdictions within the Common Travel Area.
While the Bailiwick continues to see relatively high numbers of cases of COVID-19, the numbers are currently coming down and pressure on the hospital and services, while challenging, remains manageable.
The Civil Contingencies Authority has begun to consider how and when it can begin to remove other restrictions and guidance over the coming weeks, and will review this again at its next meeting on Tuesday.
Deputy Peter Ferbrache, Chair of the Civil Contingencies Authority said
"We're encouraged to see case numbers coming down already following the arrival of Omicron, which has resulted in more active cases than we've previously seen at any other point in this pandemic.
The restrictions, both domestically and at the borders, are relatively light-touch compared to the more severe steps we've had to take earlier in the pandemic, and compared to what many other jurisdictions are doing now, because we have sought to allow life and business to continue with as much normality as possible. But even if the current restrictions are relatively few, we must not keep them in place for any longer than is absolutely necessary. So for that reason we have begun to plan how and when we can remove them.
I'm wary of making promises prematurely, mindful of how unpredictable this pandemic has been so far, but we want Islanders to know what we're discussing in the CCA. I'm hopeful that following our next meeting we will be able to provide some positive news about relaxing testing requirements at the borders, and a bit more clarity on how quickly other measures can also be relaxed."
