These pages were last updated on 24 March 2020 at 19:00 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).
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 |
| 398 | 23 | 286 | 89 |
Positive results are from individuals with a clear travel history from the UK, France, Tenerife, Mainland Spain, Germany, Austria and Switzerland
Hospital cases
We have now tested 31 in-patients with respiratory symptoms and have found all to be COVID-19 NEGATIVE.
Using modelling from other jurisdictions we would expect in the region of 8 - 15% of total infected cases require hospital care.
The next 7 days will be critical as we determine if the cases introduced to Guernsey have resulted in secondary cases that have affected the more vulnerable in our community.
Case Linking
Among 10 cases we have identified 4 clusters:
- Cluster 1 - (French ski trip)
- Cluster 2 - (2nd French ski trip)
- Cluster 3 - (Germany / Austria ski trip)
- Cluster 4 - (3rd French ski trip)
Contact Tracing
Contact tracing is on-going for the contacts of the cases identified yesterday and today. This is progressing well.
Compulsory Self-Isolation
There are now in the region of 1,000 islanders in compulsory self-isolation, equating to 1,5% of the population.
Daily Welfare Calls
Public Health Services do regular (but not always daily) welfare checks on people they have directed to self isolate. For example, confirmed cases of COVID-19; contacts of positive cases under active follow-up; people booked for testing; people tested and awaiting results. If Public Health Services are concerned for the welfare of an individual, or for public safety, staff may ask the Police to carry out a visit.
Public Health Services DO NOT do regular checks on recent arrivals into the Island who are obliged to self-isolate for 14 days from the day of arrival. Though they do carry out occasional spot checks to gauge compliance with the self-isolation orders. If a traveller persistently breaks their isolation or is in a public place we would ask the Police to attend.
UK Laboratory Testing
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.
