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More than 1,000 new cases of covid were discovered in the community last week and, as the numbers continue to rise, some places are taking precautionary steps.
One of the decisions made by Public Health when asking the public to ‘live with covid’ was to stop the daily publication of covid figures; instead, they are now published weekly.
The latest statistics indicate the island currently has 1,527 positive cases, with 1,196 discovered last week alone.
There is, however, no legal requirement to self-isolate with a positive diagnosis.
Since the 17 February the public have been encouraged to act responsibility instead and follow public health advice to stay at home when sick.
The President of the Policy and Resources Committee, Deputy Peter Ferbrache, asked islanders to “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”.
Pictured: The States of Guernsey are now publishing covid figures every Tuesday.
In light of rising cases CT Plus has decided to enforce mandatory face-coverings on the island’s bus service.
“Covid cases are unfortunately on the increase in Guernsey,” said CT Plus.
“There are currently some staff at CT Plus off with Covid and this directly affects the number of services that can be operated. In an effort to protect staff and passengers and also ensure a return to a service with fewer disruptions, CT Plus has been in consultation with Traffic and Highway Services who support a company making face-coverings mandatory again to ensure the safety of all at this time.
“From Thursday 10 March face-coverings will be mandatory on buses. We wish all the staff currently affected with Covid a speedy recovery and thank passengers for their understanding and support at this challenging time.”
Pictured: Masks are back for bus travel.
The island’s covid restrictions were always meant to protect the health service and make sure the Princess Elizabeth Hospital wasn’t overwhelmed.
The PEH is currently under incredible strain, but the five people in hospital with a covid diagnosis are not the reason for this.
“We are not currently at capacity, however as ever things change in terms of our bed situation on an hour-by-hour basis,” said Guernsey’s Medical Director, Dr Peter Rabey.
“We have medical, surgical and ICU beds available but the hospital is currently busy and we continue to need to manage the implications of the long-term issue, which we’ve discussed previously, around patients currently in hospital who don’t really need to be, but don’t have suitable long-term care arrangement in place elsewhere.
“We have lost an entire surgical ward to such patients. That has resulted in some operations being postponed. We completely understand how frustrating and stressful it can be for patients when they prepare themselves for surgery only to have it postponed.
“It’s an awful situation and not one we take lightly. We only ever take that course of action when it’s absolutely necessary, but apologise to those affected.”
Guernsey scrapping quarantine for people with covid next week
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