This change in approach was announced at around 09:15 on Monday. The States said that without making this change the island’s “ability to manage cases of covid-19 effectively could become overwhelmed”.
At the same time, Dr Nicola Brink, the Medical Officer of Health, said that on-island sequencing showed that the omicron variant of covid-19 accounted for 80-90% of new cases in the Bailiwick in the days leading up to Christmas Day.
Dr Brink said the Bailiwick is now “in our omicron wave and we should expect large numbers of cases in the coming weeks”.
By Christmas Eve, there were more than 1,000 cases of covid-19 in the Bailiwick, around 600 of which were new infections in the four days before Christmas Day. Extensive mixing indoors over the holiday period provides ideal conditions for the virus to spread.
PCR tests are still available for anyone with symptoms of covid-19 who has returned a negative lateral flow test. But anyone with a positive lateral flow test is asked to accept that as confirmation of infection and enter isolation without putting further pressure on the island’s testing facilities.
Pictured: Dr Nicola Brink, Medical Officer of Health, announced that lateral flow tests are replacing PCR tests as the primary means of confirming cases of covid-19 in the community as she and colleagues battle to keep the island’s crucial infrastructure running during a large wave of infections expected in the next few weeks.
“We simply don’t have the resources to effectively manage such significant case numbers while also scheduling everyone for PCR tests and handling all the necessary contact tracing,” said Dr Brink. “We have to prioritise what we do to ensure that our measures are as effective as possible in the face of an omicron wave of infection.
“We are pivoting our testing strategy to focus community testing on lateral flow tests, relying on the high levels of accuracy of these devices.
“We’re asking islanders to continue using lateral flow tests. We have significant supplies that are available for collection from the Guernsey Information Centre, both as part of routine surveillance – so before you go out to an event, for example – and if you’re symptomatic.
“Any positive lateral flow test result must be reported to us with the individual then put into self-isolation.
“We really need the community’s support by everyone continuing to do the right thing to help us slow the spread of this variant.
“We simply cannot afford to have huge numbers of people, particularly those delivering essential services, catch the virus at the same time. The island will struggle to continue running if that happens.”
The process for anyone receiving a positive lateral flow test is:
- immediately notify the States via the clinical helpline (01481 220001 or 01481 220002) or the online form HERE;
- receive confirmation that you must now isolate for 10 days – or seven if free of symptoms and negative on lateral flow tests on days six and seven;
- notify close contacts that they are requested to take lateral flow tests daily for 10 days and limit their social contacts during this time.