Latest figures show a steep decline in active Covid cases

At the peak there were more than 200 cases a day and a total active case rate of about 2,400, and there have now been more than 10,000 Covid cases locally since the start of the pandemic.

Yesterday, numbers dropped to 1,379, with 78 new cases, and there were four people in hospital.

However, there have been five additional deaths involving Covid reported on the government test results page in the last 10 days, taking that total to 13.

This is separate from the 17 deaths due to Covid.

Additional deaths involving Covid-19 are deaths not yet coded, where Covid-19 is mentioned as a cause anywhere on the death certificate.

In most but not all instances these will be deaths among active Covid-19 cases and in most cases these deaths will be found to have an underlying cause of Covid-19 when clinical coding has taken place.

Schools have now been back a week, but this has not resulted in a surge in cases. During the first few days back, attendance was high.

Last week, primary school attendance was 88.5%, while secondary was 83.2%. Attendance at SEND schools was 77.4%.

‘We have some teaching staff absence, but as of 10 January this is not having a significant adverse effect on the running of schools and the delivery of learning,’ a States spokesman said.

‘Take-up of face coverings in classrooms among secondary and post-16 students has been high.’

Islanders, including students, are recommended to do regular LFTs. If they test positive they need to self-isolate for at least seven days.

A person can be released into enhanced follow-up on day seven if they are symptom free and LFT negative on day six and day seven.

If someone still LFTs positive on day eight, they can leave on day 11.

They are being discouraged from doing LFTs between day 10 and day 17, as they may still test positive, despite being unlikely to be infectious.

The Civil Contingencies Authority is meeting on Tuesday when relaxations of restrictions imposed before Christmas in response to the local outbreak of the Omicron variant will be on the agenda.

It has already been discussing various ideas, and a spokesman said yesterday that one uppermost in its thoughts was reducing the isolation period for positive cases further, while still using two negative LFTs before release.

The committee is expected to issue an update later next week, after all options have been reviewed.