Common Travel Area testing ditched today

Advice to work from home is also set to be lifted from next week, with discussions on further de-escalation of restrictions taking place next week.

Covid numbers have plummeted in the past week.

There were more than 2,400 active cases in the first week of January. But yesterday there were 667 active cases, after there were 62 new cases against 113 recoveries over the previous day.

Civil Contingencies Authority chairman Peter Ferbrache said it felt proportionate to reduce restrictions.

‘We’ve seen a very encouraging steep drop in positive cases in recent days and, while we also greet such good news with a degree of caution based on how quickly things can change, it has further enhanced the CCA’s collective view that we can and should begin to remove measures in a steady and sensible way,’ he said.

‘I hope that today’s announcement will be welcome news for the community and I want to thank everyone for the high levels of uptake we see on the mitigations in place, as by and large people continue to want to do the right thing.’

From Monday the advice to work from home will be removed and self-isolation for positive cases will be reduced to six days, as long as the person is symptom-free and tests negative on days five and six.

However other restrictions, such as mask wearing in most indoor public spaces, will continue.

Deputy Ferbrache said that the current measures were discussed at length at

yesterday’s meeting.

‘I’m sure a further reduction in self-isolation requirements, provided certain criteria are met, will be welcome news for many and we have also decided to remove our guidance for people to work from home wherever possible – both of those changes come into effect from Monday just to allow a little more time to hopefully see a further reduction in case numbers,’ he said.

‘Additionally, members of the CCA recognise that we need to provide the community with as much certainty as possible about our “end game” plans.

‘What I mean by that is when we can plan, as reasonably as possible, to further reduce or remove the remaining mitigations which the CCA has imposed for the purposes of dealing with this global public health emergency.

‘Many within the community have asked whether the Bailiwick needs to continue relying on emergency powers to manage Covid-19 in the context of a highly vaccinated population. This is what we will consider next week.’

There have now been more than 10,000 Covid cases in the island since the start of the pandemic - about one in six of the population, if reinfection is discounted.

The vaccination programme has been going strong, with 145,112 doses given. That means 94% of adults have received at least two doses. About 72% of the adult population have also received a booster dose.

Some older under 18s have also been offered vaccination and 83% of teenagers aged 16 and 17 and 64% of young people aged between 12 and 15 have received at least one dose.

Deputy Ferbrache said it was important to recognise that Covid was here to stay for the foreseeable future.

‘That means that even in the absence of mandated restrictions, we will all need to continue living responsibly with the virus and that will mean continuing to do the right things - for example following any face covering guidance, taking regular LFTs and staying at home when unwell,’ he said.

‘The single most powerful defence we have against the variants of Covid-19 in the Bailiwick right now is our booster programme, so I’ll take this opportunity to remind people over the age of 18 to please get their booster if they haven’t already done so.’