No plans for circuit breaker lockdown in Guernsey
Guernsey's government says it has no immediate plans to place the island under a circuit-breaker lockdown - but says the Bailiwick is currently experiencing a wave of Omicron infections.
The island’s Chief Minister, Deputy Peter Ferbrache said it arrived in Guernsey slightly sooner than expected and "with a vengeance".
Speaking at a press conference, Deputy Ferbrache said that though cases were continuing to rise, the low number of coronavirus-related hospital infections meant further restrictions were not appropriate at this moment in time.
The number of known active cases of infection within the Bailiwick has reached 1,839, and 15 of those cases are in Alderney and there are currently no known cases in either Sark or Herm.
More cases are expected in the coming days, but Guernsey's government says there are no immediate plans to introduce new restrictions as a result, as they are not necessary or proportionate.
One of the key indicators in considering whether to introduce further measures are the number of hospital admissions.
Currently there are five patients in hospital with Covid, four of which are in the high dependency intensive care area.
This represents just 0.2% of all cases and is low when compared to other jurisdictions such as Jersey and the Isle of Man.
The rise in cases within the Bailiwick is having an impact on staffing levels within the hospital, particularly in frontline services.
Guernsey’s Medical Director, Dr Peter Rabey said that staff from other departments are having to backfill and some operations were being cancelled as a result.
People are being reminded to act responsibly to slow the spread of the Omicron variant, which it is thought accounts for around 90% of the current cases.
People organising New Year’s Eve parties are being encouraged to ensure they know who is attending and to provide good space and ventilation.
Those attending the celebrations are being encouraged to ensure they have a negative lateral flow test before heading out and to choose one venue to stay at, rather than party-hopping between different places.
Dr Nicola Brink, Guernsey's Medical Director of Public Health stressed that the island’s booster vaccination programme was another important element in minimising the impact of the current wave.
To date 37,126 booster doses have been administered, which is 73% of the 51,000 target – which is the number of people approximately over the age of 18 who are currently double vaccinated.
It is thought it will take another week or so until the booster programme kicks in and people are fully protected.
The Civil Contingencies Authority announced that schoolchildren would need to provide evidence of a negative Lateral Flow Test before their return to the classroom on Thursday 6 January.