Covid isolation and border rules to end on 17 February

Wednesday 09 February 2022

People testing positive for covid-19 will no longer be required to isolate from 17 February and restrictions on travel into the Bailiwick are ending on the same date - which is Thursday next week.

The announcement was made by the Civil Contingencies Authority at a public briefing at 13:00 this afternoon.

The Authority said that from 17 February it would no longer use strict legal controls, including emergency regulations, to manage the Bailiwick's response to the pandemic. Instead, it will ask the public to “act responsibly” and follow guidelines strongly suggested by public health officials. 

People coming into the Bailiwick will no longer need to use the Travel Tracker app, but it will remain active for those who need to access their vaccination status when outside of the Bailiwick.

The Chairman of the Authority, Deputy Peter Ferbrache, said: “Today’s announcement is hugely significant as it marks the date – 17 February 2022 - when the emergency powers, which have impacted all of our lives in the last two years, will no longer be used for the ongoing management of covid-19.

“While we can of course never say never in terms of needing to move backwards and use them again, now is the right time to move the Bailiwick out of an emergency and begin managing covid-19 without the use of regulations.

"Everyone must heed the public health advice and we must develop a culture where it is considered unacceptable for someone to be out and about willingly and knowingly spreading their germs if they are unwell."

The Authority also announced that from 3 March there will be no need for primary school students to carry out surveillance testing. Students in secondary schools and further education will be asked to do lateral flow tests on Tuesdays and Thursdays. And there will no longer be contact tracing for schoolchildren.

Pictured: Deputy Peter Ferbrache has announced that from Thursday of next week the States will no longer use emergency regulations and strict legal controls in response to covid-19.

“We have seen four waves of cases of covid-19 in the Bailiwick in the last two years and on each occasion we have as a community pulled together,” said the Medical Officer of Health, Dr Nicola Brink.

“The support of islanders, including the huge take-up of the vaccination programme, has put us in the position where we can now move with confidence towards the ongoing management of the virus outside of emergency regulations. 

“We have said this previously but it is not within our gift to say the pandemic is over. It is for the World Health Organization to make that distinction.

"But what we can say is that we, in the Bailiwick, are now moving towards treating covid-19 as an endemic disease. This is a huge step forward for us.

Pictured: Dr Nicola Brink, Medical Officer of Health, said that the changes announced by the Authority effectively mark the point at which measures in the Bailiwick are designed to respond to an endemic rather than pandemic disease. 

“We have consistently said that nothing is risk-free and there may well be times in the months ahead where further waves will occur. But right now, with the evidence we have, this is the right time to further de-escalate the measures in place.

“It is absolutely essential, however, that the vigilance many islanders have shown around staying at home if unwell remains.

“In fact, it needs to go further and become ingrained in our culture that it is socially unacceptable to put others at risk by going to work, events, or anywhere where you will be in close proximity with other people, if you’re unwell.

"We will continue pushing this message very proactively going forwards as it is simply the best mechanism to avoid outbreaks.”

More to follow...