Travel data being assessed by CCA

Thursday 08 July 2021

The CCA will review whether the 'blue' channel should be widened to all countries, not just those within the Common Travel Area, but will not do so before 19 July.

Border restrictions for people who are not fully vaccinated - with at least 14 days since the second dose - are currently decided by a traffic light system, whereas fully vaccinated adults can travel freely without any on-arrival tests or isolation if they are coming from the Common Travel Area.

That means, for example, that a fully vaccinated person can travel freely from Jersey or London to Guernsey. Someone who has not had both doses of a Covid-19 must carry out 14-day self-isolation. 

Questions have been raised with the States over the discrepancy between fully vaccinated people travelling within the CTA and others travelling from outside the CTA from countries that have lower Covid-19 prevalence rates.

The States attributed this primarily to its relationship with the UK and the greater access to data that this allows. 

Pictured: The current regional categorisations for the Common Travel Area. 

"The Civil Contingencies Authority appreciates that for many Bailiwick residents, unrestricted travel to the UK alone means they still face challenges in meeting up with family and friends they have not seen in many months, as many residents have family based elsewhere in the world," said the States. 

"The CCA has committed to reviewing this but does not intend to do so before the 19 July. Firstly, it is assessing the data of travel from the changes to travel rules brought in on 1 July.

"Secondly, it continues to work with the UK and other jurisdictions on processes for validating vaccinations carried out in other countries. And thirdly, the Bailiwick’s relationship with the UK means it has greater access to information on new and emerging variants of the virus, which may impact on travel safety and could significantly impact our situation locally."

One area where changes have been made is in relation to ‘blue’ travellers who are fully vaccinated coming via the Common Travel Area from a non-CTA country or region.

A spokesperson said: "In cases where the non-CTA region is a lower Category than the UK or Jersey, travellers have questioned why their category and associated self-isolation has been increased to ‘Category 4’ as a result of transit through the CTA. 

Pictured: Those with family outside of the CTA - such as Guernsey's Madeiran population - face prohibitive isolation requirements if they return home to see their loved ones again. 

The spokesman added: "The Civil Contingencies Authority does not intend for this to be the case, and is making clear that for fully vaccinated ‘blue’ travellers (who would face no restrictions if they were travelling only to the UK or another part of the CTA), travelling via the CTA should not put them in a more restricted category than the one they are travelling from outside of the CTA."

For example, if a “blue” traveller, who has been fully vaccinated in the Common Travel area has travelled to Italy (which is Category 2), then travels back to Guernsey via London (which is Category 4 for non-blue travellers), the person should follow and benefit from the Category 2 rules and not Category 4. 

The Travel Tracker is being updated to take into account these kinds of journeys and ensure travellers are given the correct direction on arrival.