On-island testing ended lockdown sooner
GUERNSEY was able to exit lockdown sooner due to the introduction of on-island Covid testing, a report into the island’s response has stated.
It provided the opportunity to establish a better understanding of Guernsey’s infection rate more quickly.
‘Obtaining on-island testing proactively enabled the Bailiwick to accelerate through the phases of our exit from lockdown and contributed significantly to the fact that the Bailiwick spent shorter times in lockdown than most comparable jurisdictions,’ the report stated.
In mid-February 2020, UK testing labs would only accept seven tests per day from the Bailiwick due to limited capacity, and the turnaround time for off-island samples was more than five days.
There were concerns the Bailiwick was vulnerable without adequate testing arrangements.
Policy & Resources authorised the additional spending and secured the necessary equipment.
The local Covid testing process became operational in March 2020.
The initial capacity was 40 tests per day, but gradually increased to 1,000 tests per day by the summer of 2020.
Timely test results increased the effectiveness of the contact tracing teams, which helped reduce Covid’s spread.
