Alderney eager to restart the 'Bailiwick bubble'

Friday 12 March 2021

Alderney and Sark have returned to business as normal after weeks of lockdown restrictions; no more masks, no more restrictions on gatherings.

Both Alderney and Sark took steps out of lockdown quicker than Guernsey due to the low number of cases recorded in the northern isle and the complete absence of positive tests in Sark.

Alderney has only ever reported one case of corona virus during the entire pandemic and opened up to Stage 3 on 9 March, following in the footsteps of Sark, which opened up on 4 March; both islands still enforce restrictions on people coming to the island, however it’s hoped this will change with the Bailiwick Bubble in Stage 3.

Pictured: “Our good friends in Alderney and Sark are now in Stage 3,” announced Head of the CCA, Deputy Peter Ferbrache, earlier this week.

The move to Stage 3 has been welcomed by residents in Alderney.

“Last night we went [to a restaurant]; no masks, no distance,” said Krystina Page. "We were all asking each other how lockdown went – seeing faces was special.”

“We all said we were excited to return to our Bailiwick Bubble, when the coast is clear.

“Most of all it is a relief to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” she said.

Pictured: People in Alderney have returned to life as it was before the second lockdown.

Guernsey will aim to follow both Alderney and Sark on 22 March. “We will be making a decision next Tuesday on when we can move into Stage 3,” said Deputy Ferbrache.

“Unless anything untoward happens it’s very likely to be Monday 22 March,” he said.

With the vaccination programme fully underway, the Director of Public Health, Dr Nicola Brink, has said it’s becoming less and less likely we’ll be going back into a third lockdown. It’s something of a conversation starter in our free fellow islands.

“Main topic of discussion was who had the vaccine and when we were each getting our scheduled jabs,” said Ms Page.