Support bubbles return, lone workers can too

A detailed exit from lockdown document has been published, giving hope that a further easing could take place as soon as next Thursday.

However, there was a tightening up of face covering rules, with people risking a £100 fine from Saturday if they are in an indoor public place without a mask or covering, unless they have a good reason.

The announcements were made at yesterday’s media briefing as the number of active cases fell to 336, with just eight new cases identified on Tuesday.

Of these, three were from unknown community sources.

Eight people are in hospital, with two not needing clinical care.

Director of Public Health Dr Nicola Brink said in many cases they would be able link the unknown community seeding cases.

‘What we’ve seen with those three [unknown] cases that we saw yesterday, although we couldn’t precisely link those cases together, what we have seen is they link to areas that we know there has been Covid activity,’ she said.

‘So we know there is a link to the source of the virus.’

She warned the number of new cases were likely to rise and fall in the coming days and while 19 were found from contacts on Sunday, these were only in three clusters.

The five-day moving model shows that Guernsey is on the downward side of a bell curve for the number of new cases.

A three-stage exit from lockdown was unveiled yesterday. Stage one – where there is a medium risk of uncontained community cases – will see the return of social bubbles and some outdoor gatherings.

Stage two – where there is a low risk of uncontained community cases – will see people able to meet indoors in controlled environments.

Stage three will be a return to the Bailiwick bubble with no on-island restrictions.

‘At each step we are looking at the economic impact and we’re looking at the social impact and we are balancing those together to progress,’ Dr Brink said.

Guernsey will not move into stage one until at least a week today, with any changes announced next week.

But some lockdown restrictions are being amended.

The support bubbles aim to help lone parents, lone carers or new parents who will be allowed to have support.

Lone workers are also being allowed to return to work, as long as they have no contact with others. Permits are not required at this stage. But restaurants and take-aways must stay closed for now.

Civil Contingencies Authority chairman Peter Ferbrache said the priority was to open up the economy as quickly and safely as possible, prioritising businesses that cannot operate remotely.

‘So we are giving the opportunity to businesses and small traders and individual workers to go and work, but we’re asking you to respect the spirit of what we are doing,’ he said.

He warned that the island was likely to be in lockdown for some weeks yet, but the numbers were moving in the right direction.

The exit document does not give details about when travel rules could change or when schools could fully reopen.

Deputy Ferbrache said the CCA would liaise with the Education about schools and Dr Brink said it was possible the broader opening of schools could take place in stage two, but that was not decided yet.