Hospital visitors urged to follow testing guidance

Islanders are being asked to take a lateral flow test before going to the hospital and only to go if the result is negative.

‘We do not know of any confirmed cases of people with positive Covid results deliberately flouting the guidance to attend the PEH, although there has been some claims made on social media.

‘Any such incident would be difficult to confirm in any case,’ said HSC Medical Director Peter Rabey.

‘Nonetheless we continue to insist that people do not attend the PEH if they have any symptoms of Covid, and that they have a negative LFT before attending.

‘The only exception to this would of course be if people need to be admitted to hospital for Covid treatment.’

As it stands, patients are only allowed one visitor per day in an attempt to minimise the spread of Covid within the hospital.

The island’s case numbers reached 3,854 on Tuesday – the highest Guernsey has seen since the start of the pandemic.

There are no plans to further reduce visitation and the measures are being continually reviewed by the States, which is also trying to minimise operation postponements as much as possible.

‘We continue to be affected by staff absences due to Covid during this recent wave of infections and as a community we need to do all we can to protect our services,’ said Dr Rabey.

His comments followed a social media post by the States, stating it had heard of islanders attending appointments at the PEH when they have knowingly tested positive for Covid-19.

‘This poses a serious risk to others who may be attending for various reasons and could be severely immune compromised,’ the statement said.

‘It also increases the chance of medical teams unwittingly passing it on.’

Dr Nicola Brink has recovered after recently testing positive for Covid. The director of Public Health has spearheaded Guernsey’s Covid response. She confirmed her recovery on social media yesterday.