Restrictions on bars, clubs and all licensed premises imposed from 6.30pm Friday 20 March 2020. These pages were last updated on 20 March 2020 at 18.15 hrs.
- As stated in the above image: If you have any clinical questions regarding the coronavirus please call the dedicated helpline on 01481 756938 or 01481 756969. These two numbers will be manned between 8am and 10pm every day by trained call handlers from the Joint Emergency Services Call Centre (JESCC).
- If the information provided on these pages does not answer your non-clinical questions, please email publichealth@gov.gg.
- For media enquiries, contact Press Room: pressroom@gov.gg or 01481 717022.
Media Briefing 20 March 2020 FAQs
The statements and questions raised at this briefing can be found here and in the downloads section of this page: 
Media Briefing 20 March 2020 FAQs [143kb]
Information following decision to temporarily pause education
Read the latest media release here: Media release - 20 March 2020 - More information released following decision to temporarily pause education [167kb] and the supporting FAQ document can be found here: Frequently asked questions regarding temporary school closure [471kb]
Restrictions on bars, clubs and all licensed premises
From 6.30pm 20 March 2020
- Nightclubs will have to close
- Bars that do not serve food will have to close, and
- Pubs and restaurants that serve prepared and plated food are also able to serve alcohol to their customers, provided that it is ancillary to the service of food
This is a temporary measure to mitigate against the spread of coronavirus in the Bailiwick of Guernsey. Restaurants and pubs which do serve food will need to observe new restrictions, which would mean alcohol can only be served with prepared or plated food to customers sat at tables. These temporary measures will be reviewed in 10 days' time.
Read the latest media release here: Media release - 20 March 2020 - COVID-19 restrictions on licensed premises media release [550kb] and the guidance is here: Guidance for nightclubs, bars, pubs and restaurants - 20 March 2020 [194kb]
Testing undertaken by Public Health Services in Guernsey
On 9 March 2020, The Director of Public Health, Dr Nicola Brink, announced the first positive case of COVID-19, in the island. See media release for more details.
| Number of samples tested | Positive results | Negative results | Awaiting results |
| 273 | 2 | 156 | 115 |
Testing for COVID-19 is carried out by a UK specialist laboratory. The increase in demand on the UK laboratories has increased the time it takes to receive confirmed results from the standard 48 hours. For those individuals for whom we are awaiting the results, it is important to emphasize that they could be suffering from flu or another ailment. The delay in results is not an indication of a potential positive result.
The virus was originally referred to as 2019-nCoV novel coronavirus. On 11 February 2020 the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses designated a name to this new coronavirus-Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). On the same day, the World Health Organization named the disease that is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 as COVID-19.
