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Guernsey is now asking travellers from Jersey to get a negative PCR test before travelling there over worries about the island's high numbers of covid-19 cases.
Any travellers not able to do so will be treated as 'Category 4', which entails 14 days' quarantine.
Guernsey's emergency decision-making group, the Civil Contingencies Authority, described the new measure as "temporary" and said it came in light of rising cases in Jersey and the recent change in policy for direct contacts of cases. There are currently more than 1,800 active covid cases and more than 10,000 direct contacts.
States of Guernsey officials explained that there were "significant volumes of traffic between the two islands" and there was a concern that, because roughly 9% of Jersey's population are caught in the direct contact net, around one in 10 arrivals into Guernsey may be a direct contact.
The requirement for pre-travel testing will begin on Monday in order to give those due to travel enough time to source a PCR test and receive the result.
Pictured: Jersey's covid statistics as of Thursday 16 July.
In the interim, the ‘Blue’ channel from Jersey will fall away and all fully vaccinated arrivals will need a border test, followed by self-isolation until they receive a negative result, and another test on Day 7 if they are in Guernsey that long.
Guernsey Chief Minister Deputy Peter Ferbrache, CCA Chair, said: "This decision is in no way a criticism of Jersey’s strategy. Jersey’s situation is different to ours and they are making decisions appropriate to their unique circumstances. However, Guernsey’s strategy is dependent on carefully managing increased travel, identifying cases and clusters at risk of spreading further and keeping them under control.
"That’s been effective for us so far with our case numbers low, numbers in self-isolation also low, and no hospitalisations, more than two weeks since we relaxed our border policy. But we must still tread with some caution and apply proportionate measures where we see the greatest risks, as we continue to manage our way forward.”
CLICK HERE for more information about Guernsey's travel rules.
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