Guernsey Press

Is it any wonder visitors are shunning Guernsey in favour of Jersey?

THE stark differences in Covid-19 testing procedures for travellers arriving in Jersey and in Guernsey are well illustrated by my experiences of the past two days.

Published

On Sunday morning, I took the ferry from St Malo to Jersey, with a vehicle. I filled out the Jersey Travel Tracker two days before leaving France and received a text message back on my phone with a QR code. Upon disembarking the boat, I showed the QR code to an operative, who immediately identified me and handed me a sealed swab. I then advanced into the testing tent, where another operative took the swab from me, and carried out the PCR test by inserting it in my throat and nostrils and placing it in the already labelled test tube. I then advanced to a testing official who checked my details on her screen and sent me on my way.

The whole process took a maximum of three minutes.

Admittedly I was one of the first off the boat but my husband was in another vehicle right at the back of the queue and he was through in half an hour. I should point out that the boat, the Condor Voyager, was completely full as the previous day’s sailings had been cancelled due to the bad weather. Also, it is worth pointing out that everyone on the vessel had to take a PCR test – which, moreover, is free – as they had all come from France. I’d estimate that there were between 300 and 400 vehicle-based passengers to be processed.

Today, by contrast, my arrival in Guernsey off the Condor Liberation was a totally different experience. This time there were probably approximately 40 vehicles disembarking in Guernsey and it took at least 10 minutes to process the 20 or so who, like me, needed to take a PCR test – once one had reached the front of a slow-moving queue.

Firstly, one had to log on to the previously completed Travel Tracker, which required an internet connection, and then scroll down at least five screens, ticking boxes all the way. The first question I was asked by the tester was whether I had any hand sanitiser in the car. When I said ‘No’ she then went off to find a sachet, which I had to open and use so that she could hand me a large plastic box containing the swab and the test tube. I then had to open the swab, insert it into my throat and nostrils, open the test tube, insert the swab in it, break off the top of the swab, and put it back in the plastic box. I then had to enter manually on my iPad the bar code, do another two or three scrolls down my iPad screen and drive forward to hand the box to someone else. When I complained that I had been charged not just £25 for this test but another £25 for a Day 7 test which as from today is no longer required, another individual handed me a typed form explaining how I could apply for a refund of the second £25. When I asked why the Travel Tracker hadn’t been updated to allow for the fact that this second test was no longer required as from October 4th, I was told it had now been updated. Given that we are encouraged to complete the Travel Tracker 48 hours before arriving, why wasn’t the software updated in time? Finally, I had to be cleared for exit by a supervisor; more scrolling down my screen and box ticking. A further comment is that I informed the testers that I had had a negative result from a PCR test taken in Jersey the previous day. I was told that this was irrelevant. (Jersey, by comparison, is now accepting evidence of PCR results from elsewhere with appropriate proof).

The final insult is trying to get a refund for the £25 I have paid for the Day 7 test that I now do not need. It turns out that the note I was given upon leaving the testing facility gave the wrong web address for claiming the refund. I then phoned the non-clinical helpline and after a 10 minute wait got through to someone who said I would have to fill in a form and upload my receipts for the payments. This I have now done – to receive a message saying that it may take up to 30 days to receive the refund as they have had so many requests for refunds. What a mess.

Is it any wonder that visitors are shunning Guernsey in favour of going to Jersey?

SUSAN LLOYD