FOCUS: The Bailiwick’s ‘new normal’

Monday 24 May 2021

With the ramparts set to come down around 'Fortress Guernsey', Express considered what the 'new normal' will look like as free travel opens up to the UK and the rest of the Common Travel Area.

The pandemic we have lived through for the last 15 months could soon become an endemic situation, with a 'new normal' that will put an increasing emphasis on Covid-19 vaccines and less on lockdowns and border restrictions.

“The key to this is learning to live responsibly with covid,” said Advisor to the Civil Contingency Authority, Deputy Heidi Soulsby.

“A lot of people talk about us having to ‘live with covid’, it’s not that – it’s about living with covid responsibly,” she said.

Pictured: The CCA and Public Health’s strategy has tipped from reliance on non-pharmaceutical interventions, to reliance on the vaccine.

On 1 July, the Bailiwick of Guernsey will drop most of its border restrictions and adopt a system similar, but not identical, to the UK's traffic light.

The CCA made it clear that we’ll align with the UK, but that the island's authorities will retain the “ultimate say" on country categorisation. However, it does group Jersey, the UK, the Isle of Man, and the Republic of Ireland in the Common Travel Area, coloured blue, meaning no tests, no self-isolation.

What is considered responsible living under these new conditions?

“It’s about ticking off all the things we’ve spoken about over the last year,” said Deputy Soulsby.

“Catch it, kill it, bin it; hand hygiene, considering space and employees being encouraged to stay at home if they’re not feeling well.”

Pictured: The CCA will continue to monitor a raft of issues as the island learns to live with covid responsibly.

“We’re trying to get back to a new normal,” she reiterated. “It won’t be absolutely normal; it won’t be exactly the same as what we had before March last year, there’ll still be controls.”

These controls will include a ‘vaccine passport’. We now know the design of the passport is nearly complete and will tie in with the travel tracker programme.

“We have it designed,” said CEO of the States of Guernsey, Paul Whitfield. “It’s almost complete.”

“We’re working very closely with other areas in the Common Travel Area to make sure we have synergies. There are some difficulties in having those synergies across Europe, but we’ve made it somewhat standardised with the UK,” he said.

The need for a vaccine passport aligns closely with the traffic light system, with some categories requiring proof of vaccination, not only of our own citizens, but of incoming travellers too.

“It’ll not only be a physical document but will be inbuilt with the travel tracker,” said Mr Whitfield. “It’ll certainly be ready in time for July.”

Pictured: The border strategy should replace our current region prevalence programme from 1 July.

The future relies on the vaccine programme, described by the CCA as “our best weapon against covid”.

52% of people over the age of 50 have now been fully vaccinated and 59% of the entire population of the Bailiwick has had at least one jab. 

“The heavy lifting is moving so that most of our protection is now through vaccination,” said the Director of Public Health, Dr Nicola Brink.

Pictured: It’s not known what percentage of the population will be vaccinated by the 1 July, but it’s hoped to be at least 70% to achieve some sort of ‘herd immunity’.

In addition to vaccine passports and a continued emphasis on personal hygiene; we’ll also have future booster programmes, law enforcement checking in on self-isolators  for the foreseeable future.

“We might have to do things a little bit differently for the next two or three years,” said Mr Whitfield.

As the Chief Minister Deputy Peter Ferbrache summed it up when revealing the traffic light system: “We believe the steps we are outlining today are steps the community can live with.”