Care home evacuated after four test positive for Covid

A CARE home has had to be evacuated after two residents and two staff tested positive for Covid-19.

Two residents and two staff have tested positive for Covid-19 at La Grande Lande care home in St Saviour’s. (Picture by Adrian Miller, 29218769)

The confirmation came at yesterday’s press conference, with Civil Contingencies Authority chairman Peter Ferbrache saying that while Guernsey’s figures were moving in the right direction, it was too soon to relax any lockdown restrictions.

‘We hope that the worst is behind us,’ he said.

A review will be held early next week and any changes will be announced on Wednesday.

Deputy Ferbrache said he was expecting to come out of this lockdown faster than last year’s, but could not give a timeline.

Just 17 new cases were detected on Thursday – the second lowest day since the start of the second outbreak. It was also the first day where none of the new cases came from community seeding.

There are currently 361 active cases. More than 30 of these are in people over 70 years old. In hospital there are five people on Brock Ward and one person in intensive care.

‘We are seeing some promising trends, but there are areas of concern,’ Director of Public Health Dr Nicola Brink said.

Medical director Peter Rabey confirmed that four cases had been found at La Grande Lande care home in St Saviour’s. The source of the outbreak is still under investigation.

Dr Rabey said two residents and two staff had tested positive in the previous 24 hours.

‘There’s nobody involved who is unwell and needs hospitalisation because of symptoms,’ he said.

All of the care home’s staff are close contacts and are now in self-isolation.

Health & Social Care was unable to staff the care home, so the 11 residents have been transferred to Princess Elizabeth Hospital. This includes the two Covid positive residents, who will go to Brock Ward. Dr Rabey said they were not sick.

‘I understand both patients are about three weeks after their first vaccination, which we would hope would offer a good deal of protection,’ he said.

The other nine have tested negative, but will go into isolation and be tested daily.

Dr Rabey said this showed that vaccinated people should not be complacent.

More than 11,000 doses of the vaccine have now been administered. Currently Guernsey is in phase one of the vaccination programme, which involves health care staff, vulnerable islanders and older people.

There were hints that phase two might take place towards the summer, but Dr Brink said this depended on supplies and vaccine data.

No date has been given for a full schools reopening, but around 300 children and teachers are getting tested ready to return to the classroom next week.

There are worries about essential workers going to work when they have symptoms or bosses pressuring staff to work while sick. Deputy chief minister Heidi Soulsby said this behaviour would just prolong the pandemic.

‘If you have symptoms and you go out, then you put others at risk,’ she said.