CCA sticks to travel plan as cases in the UK rise
RE-INTRODUCING travel restrictions for UK regions with high Covid rates was considered and rejected by the Civil Contingencies Authority, it has been confirmed.
Arrivals from within the Common Travel Area, who were fully vaccinated within the CTA, have been able to arrive in Guernsey without isolation for a week now.
Between 1 and 4 July, there were more than 2,300 journeys into the Bailiwick and 85% were fully vaccinated.
Case numbers in the UK continue to rise. All of England is now category four, with case numbers rising over the last week from 327 cases per 100,000 people over 14 days to 432 cases per 100,000.
Director of Public Health Dr Nicola Brink said Public Health was looking at new data, both locally and internationally.
‘More and more we’re seeing data that gives us confidence our advice to the CCA remains appropriate and proportionate,’ she said.
‘The vaccination programme is making a real difference in preventing serious illness with the data from England and Scotland supporting this.
'Locally, 93% of our adult population (over 18s) have had at least one dose of vaccine, with 70% being fully vaccinated.’
She appreciated that cases were rising steeply in the UK.
‘We did carefully consider whether additional measures for those regions made sense, but knowing many of our arrivals are fully vaccinated and present a low risk to the community is important and mitigates any risk,’ she said.
‘As we move forward we need to consider the broader mental and physical health and wellbeing of islanders. I know that seems counter-intuitive after so many months of focusing on case numbers.
‘We shouldn’t be complacent, and we aren’t letting cases numbers get out of control, but we must also recognise that as we find a way to live with Covid we will have cases, but they don’t present the same kind of danger as they did before our vaccination roll-out.’
Jersey’s situation has been causing concern, with more than 700 active positive cases and more than 5,000 contacts.
There are concerns that Guernsey’s travel rules relaxation might lead to a sharp rise in case numbers, similar to Jersey’s.
But Dr Brink said she was confident numbers in Guernsey could be controlled and there was unlikely to be another lockdown.
‘The strategic management of the pandemic in Jersey is fundamentally different,’ she said.
‘Jersey is in the midst of the large outbreak, despite testing at the borders.’
