The situation today...

Monday 06 April 2020

The number of people confirmed as having corona virus has more than tripled in a week, now samples are being tested locally, with the number of deaths across the Channel Islands continuing to increase regularly too as the pandemic takes a stronger grip.

At the start of a new week, which is expected to see a review of the lockdown measures, the latest statistics show 154 people have tested positive for covid-19 in the Bailiwick.

They are all thought to be resident in Guernsey, with no confirmed cases in Alderney, Sark or any of the other islands last week.

With more than one thousand people now having been tested for the virus, nearly 900 people have been told they don't have it, while 27 people are now confirmed to have recovered from the illness.

Pictured: The latest statistics for corona virus in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, as at 17:00 on Sunday 5 April. 

Three people are confirmed to have died having tested positive for covid-19 in Guernsey. They were all in their 80s, and their relatives have been informed. Their names and other details are being kept confidential to respect their privacy.

More than 80 other people were still waiting for their test results as the weekend came to an end.

Full team in today. Contact tracing team hard at work. Pathology team testing samples. Sampling team gathering more samples. Public health intelligence team analysing data. Data entry team capturing this vital information. What an amazing effort. #GuernseyTogether #StayAtHome

— Nicola Brink (@DrNicolaBrink) April 4, 2020

Dr Nicola Brink and her team at Public Health were working over the weekend, with more than 126 samples tested on Saturday alone. A week after the local testing facility at the PEH was first used, it has seen the number of local samples tested more than doubled. 

As well as testing samples, the Public Health Team spent the weekend contact tracing and trying to identify carriers of the virus who might not know they have it.

In the past 24hrs our contact tracing team have carried out interviews in four different languages. Whatever your communication needs are we will do our very best to find a solution for you. @DrNicolaBrink @AlexHawkinsDrew @JoLeNoury1 @Gsy_Bell @Govgg

— Jenny Cataroche (@CatarocheJ) April 4, 2020

This Wednesday will mark two weeks since the Bailiwick of Guernsey entered lockdown, and at the time, Deputy Gavin St Pier said those measures would be reviewed after 14 days.

He has since refused to be drawn on whether it will be extended, but he did initially warn we should prepare for it to last 28 days.

Any further information on that is likely to be conveyed at a public press briefing which will be streamed on the States Facebook page.

SHOUT OUT to uniform services - ⁦@GuernseyPolice⁩ ⁦@stjohngsy⁩ Fire Service, Border Agency and Prison Service - thank you! #guernseytogether pic.twitter.com/NvEzL3CFtE

— Gavin St Pier #GuernseyTogether #StayAtHome (@gavinstpier) April 4, 2020

Deputy St Pier has been giving 'shoutouts' to those in the community he wants to thank publicly for their work during the pandemic. 

Elsewhere, the pandemic has also led to three deaths in Jersey confirmed as linked with covid-19.

The latest update for Jersey, as of Sunday 5 April saw 155 people testing positive, and more than 1200 testing negative with nearly 70 still waiting for their test results.

Jersey has now spent a week in lockdown, but yesterday also saw the island's first arrest under the new powers given to police to enforce the temporary measures.

A man is due in court today, after he was allegedly arrested in the island's Millennium Park "with no good reason to be out".