The testing regime is set to be expanded through the introduction of a new Bailiwick extended testing system, which will increase on-island capacity from 48 extractions in three hours to 96 in 90 minutes – effectively 400 a day.
Director of Public Health Dr Nicola Brink said they were excited to increase the testing capacity in the island through this project and even further using some new kit, which was ordered on Monday after being significantly funded by the Covid-19 response appeal which the public are contributing to.
‘Not only are we going to test symptomatic people but we are looking at cycling round the island to various groups,’ she said.
‘Get a good population prevalence on what’s going on in groups. That’s important because we also then detect asymptomatic infections.’
The kit will not arrive for six weeks and will take two to set up.
Asymptomatic individuals are said to account for 30% of cases from studies.
This new project will be targeted at high risk individuals first, such as care home staff and frontline health workers.
In terms of a track and trace app, such as the one currently being trialled for the UK in the Isle of Wight, it was decided not to be suitable or necessary for the island, as it was meant for use in larger jurisdictions than the Bailiwick’s.
States chief executive Paul Whitfield said the app relied on reactive and proactive, contact tracing, automation and targeting, which the island was already doing.
‘As it stands, we are currently managing all these elements within our existing processes,’ he said.
‘Some of these capabilities cannot be replicated in many jurisdictions, primarily due to their size but also due to some of the unique capabilities we’ve already developed in the Bailiwick.
‘It’s important that we make the appropriate responses in the Bailiwick and maximise where we have the advantage.’
Guernsey was already testing those with symptoms efficiently, while looking at introducing proactive testing, such as those individuals already identified as high risk, and continues to use contact tracing that could be more easily done in the islands.
‘This gives us a higher level of accuracy than the automation of an app and avoids the risk of false positives,’ said Mr Whitfield.
The e-census is also being used to identify high risk areas, including multi-occupancy households.
Mr Whitfield said they were actively engaged with organisations where an app was being trialled in order to benefit from the research gained.
