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The decision has been made to close schools across Guernsey and Alderney ahead of the Easter holidays, with effect from Monday 23 March.
The Director of Public Health has said schools, colleges and pre-schools will then be shut until the end of the scheduled Easter holidays at least, as the authorities work to introduce on-island testing for covid-19.
Provision will be made for the childcare of children of key workers and children with special educational needs while the schools and associated facilities are closed.
Details of these arrangements will be announced tomorrow, Friday 20 March, but for now all parents should plan for the potential that all schools, colleges and early years providers will close on Monday.
The decision was announced shortly before a live press conference, attended by the politicians and civil servants leading the Bailiwick's response to the global pandemic.
Pictured: Deputy Heidi Soulsby, Deputy Gavin St Pier, Dr Nicola Brink and Head of Law Enforcement Ruairi Hardy, appeared at a live press briefing this afternoon.
The situation is changing daily, as the Director of Public Health, her team, and the Civil Contingencies Authority, responds to new data available from across the world.
It's understood there has been a change in circumstances for Bailiwick samples being tested in the UK, which "due to pressures it is facing cannot continue to guarantee the same turnaround time for results", according to a statement released by the States of Guernsey.
There is now going to be further efforts to bring forward the time when tests for covid-19 can be carried out on-island.
It's hoped that can happen while the schools are closed, and then educational facilities will reopen as soon as possible after the Easter break.
Pictured: It's hoped educational facilities will reopen "as soon as possible" after the scheduled Easter break. The above is the term dates for States run schools. The three private colleges run to similar term dates.
Director of Public Health, Dr Nicola Brink said this is not a long term closure of schools and pre-schools, but a temporary measure, until testing can be carried out on island.
"This is effectively a period of pause for education in the Bailiwick while we put necessary measures in place. The UK’s circumstances have changed and that could lead to a level of uncertainty not previously present for us, for example about the speed in which results will be returned. We are taking necessary steps to prevent that uncertainty, if it materialises, making it more difficult for us to identify any community seeding if it occurs.
"Fortunately we believe the ability to test locally is nearly here. This will not only mean we can continue assessing the rate of spread of coronavirus in our community, it will give us the ability to carry out more tests, more quickly, improving the data we use to make decisions. I would again urge all islanders to focus on maintaining social distancing wherever possible, as this is an essential part of limiting the spread."
When Guernsey is able to carry out its own testing, work will be done to quickly determine the extent to which ‘community seeding’ is taking place - in other words, how much coronavirus spreads from one person in the Bailiwick to another, as opposed to cases coming into the Island from other jurisdictions.
Pictured: Deputy Gavin St Pier speaking at today's press conference.
It's hoped that the travel restrictions which have come into effect today, where people who arrive in the Bailiwick by law have to self-isolate for 14 days, and the guidance on social distancing and other ways of reducing contact mean there is a reasonable chance that the Bailiwick will be able to remain in the ‘containment’ phase and schools can resume as soon as possible after the scheduled Easter break.
However, we are warned that it is possible that if the data shows community seeding is occurring, a decision will have to be made to keep schools closed.
Deputy Gavin St Pier, who as Chief Minister and President of Policy and Resources, is also Chair of the Civil Contingencies Authority, said:
"While it frustrating to find ourselves in this situation, we cannot simply rely on others and must introduce on-island testing as quickly as possible. I’m very hopeful that the decision to begin the Easter break early is not the beginning of a longer term closure of schools, but we also have to be realistic that it’s a real possibility. As is occurring on an almost daily basis, we have found the circumstances around us have changed but, again, we’ve considered the options quickly and carefully and made what we are sure is the right decision at this stage for our community."
Further information will be provided to all schools, colleges and early years providers as soon as possible.
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