New strain of corona virus picked up in Guernsey

Monday 11 January 2021

A new, more transmissible strain of corona virus was discovered last year, and it has now been identified in a case in the island.

The States of Guernsey held a media briefing on Friday updating us on a raft of issues and topics.

The tests administered in Guernsey are called PCR tests and have been used to support our border restrictions, with testing on day 13 and testing on arrival. These have now been bolstered by further border measures.

The test, however, doesn’t differentiate between strains and test samples had to be sent away to labs in the UK to determine whether the latest strain had arrived in the Bailiwick.

Pictured: Dr Nicola Brink updated the island during the latest media briefing.

New strains are caused by mutations in the genes of viruses. This is not unusual - the flu mutates every year.

There is no evidence that the new strain is any more dangerous, however, it has been seen to be more transmissible, with infection rates skyrocketing in the UK. 

Reassuringly, the two vaccines approved for use in Guernsey will still work on the new variant.

Pictured: Viruses mutate to survive, so they can be spread more easily.

“As part of our surveillance we send our samples to UK for genetic sequencing,” said Director of Public Health, Dr Nicola Brink.

“We sent some of our samples to the UK to specifically look to see if we have the variant virus. One of our isolates did confirm that.”

Dr Brink has stressed how important our new border restrictions are in regards to this new variant.

“The important thing to note is, the one person infected did isolate as a household bubble, and did transmit the virus to everyone in that bubble. It has emphasised the enhanced transmissibility for this new variant.”

Guernsey is expecting 40,000 vaccine doses by April.