Covid outbreak in prison - but big drop in cases overall

Tuesday 18 January 2022

The number of new cases of covid-19 discovered each day is now lower than it has been for two months.

Infections plummeted over the weekend with nearly five times as many recoveries as there were new cases.

By mid-afternoon on Monday, there were 718 known active cases. Just 10 days ago, there were well over 2,000 known active cases. 

In total, there have now been nearly 10,500 cases of the virus since the pandemic arrived in the Bailiwick in March 2020. 

Pictured: The latest testing figures released by the States included 127 new cases of covid-19 identified over the weekend, among which were 38 contacts of other cases and 25 travel-related cases.  

Despite the steep fall in cases in the community, the Prison is in a form of lockdown with visits cancelled and no unnecessary mixing after an outbreak of cases.

“Guernsey Prison has confirmed a number of positive covid-19 cases within the prison community. Following consultation with Public Health, we have put the Prison into special measures...to allow us to test the remainder of the prison population," said Prison Governor, John De Carteret.

“These measures will remain in place until we have all of the test results and are able to make evidence-based decisions on the delivery of our services."  

Meanwhile, public health officials have stopped detailed analysis of samples of covid-19 while resources are prioritised on managing existing and emerging cases. This means the ratio of cases of the omicron variant to other strains is unknown.

The vaccination status of the 718 known active cases is known and is as follows: 182 are unvaccinated, 44 are partially vaccinated, 167 are fully vaccinated and 315 are fully vaccinated with boosters. The vaccination status of 10 cases is unknown. 

Pictured: The Civil Contingencies Authority is meeting today to decide on the next steps in the Bailiwick's management of the covid-19 pandemic.

The Civil Contingencies Authority is meeting today to discuss whether to relax a range of rules and restrictions in the wake of the steep decline in infections.

The Authority said last week that a continuation in the downward trend of cases would probably allow travel restrictions to be liberalised and the isolation period for positive cases to be cut to five days rather than seven days.

The Authority is expected to announce any changes later today or tomorrow.