Guernsey Press

Source of cluster identified by Public Health

PUBLIC HEALTH believes it has identified the source of the recent Covid-19 cluster, but has not revealed what it was.

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A scientist prepares Covid-19 tests for analysis (28877239)

In a statement issued today, Public Health recognised that the community had been extremely concerned about the source of the cluster of cases that was identified last month.

At the time these cases were announced the Director of Public Health Dr Nicola Brink and the contact tracing team were unable to identify the source of infection for the index case.

'We are now in a position to confirm that we believe we have identified the source of the infection and that all necessary retrospective steps have been taken to ensure that the spread of Covid-19 has been identified and contained,' a spokesperson said.

'It is always possible that reintroduction occurs – what happened here was the efficient test, track and isolation programme enabled a rapid response and containment.'

10 positive cases were identified in this cluster – six were related to a specific venue (which was not the source of the original infection), three were family members and one was a work colleague (again not the source of the original infection).

Public Health also confirmed that the source of the infection was not a student.

Enhanced testing capacity allowed Public Health to carry out widespread testing - not just limited to close contacts - and, therefore, 268 contacts were tested regarding the cluster.

Since 21 September, as part of the community testing programme, Public Health has tested nearly 3,000 symptomatic people in the community and none of these individuals have tested positive.

'There is no reason for the community to be concerned about the prospect of continued infection from the source of infection or this cluster of cases that was identified,' the spokesperson said.

'We are unable to provide any more information as it is essential that we respect confidentiality and establish a rapport with positive cases as to do otherwise would impact on the efficacy of our contact tracing.'

As it stands, Public Health has tested 20,454 samples and found 273 positive cases. Of these 13 are still active cases.