How Guernsey’s test and trace system lifted the lockdown
Two days after the UK entered lockdown, the Crown Dependency of Guernsey followed suit. The Channel Island has now seen no coronavirus cases for 42 days, a success public health authorities attribute to its test and trace programme.
Guernsey’s 63,000 residents are able to go to the pub, get a haircut and meet up with friends and family. And on 20 June, the government will remove nearly all lockdown restrictions. So how did they manage it?
Currently, everyone who enters a “controlled environment”, like a pub, restaurant or hairdressers, must leave their name and contact details – which are available at all times for the island’s Public Health Services to access.
Dr Nicola Brink, Guernsey’s public health director, says she began recruitment for contact tracers in January. They have now spoken to 1,757 people, or just under 3% of the population.
She says delays in tests carried out in the UK meant the island had to introduce a lockdown, but by the end of March Guernsey was carrying out its own tests for the equivalent of 160,000 people daily in UK terms.
