The island’s Covid-19-free status ended on Sunday when a patient who had recently returned from treatment in the UK tested positive. The individual arrived back in the island at the end of August and immediately went into isolation before they tested positive on the seventh day after their return.
The announcement of a positive case came hours after the Isle of Man, which set up an air bridge with Guernsey earlier this year, revealed it had recorded its first case in 109 days.
Guernsey Chief Minister Gavin St Pier said that there were no plans to end the quarantine-free travel link.
People travelling to Guernsey from any other jurisdiction must isolate for one or two weeks, depending on where they arrive from.
Announcing the Guernsey case, Dr Nicola Brink, the island’s director of public health, said the positive result gave her confidence that the testing and isolation system was working.
Officials also said there was no link to the positive case in the Isle of Man.
‘The effectiveness of our self-isolation regime means we’ve not had any second-generation cases and that the Guernsey public is at little more risk than before we brought in seven-day testing.’
Deputy St Pier said the fact that both Guernsey and the Isle of Man had found their first new cases in months on the same day was pure coincidence.
‘We always knew we would see further cases of Covid-19 in the Bailiwick and have said so many times over recent months.
‘In this case the fact that the patient followed all travel advice and immediately went into compulsory self-isolation on arrival in the Bailiwick means we can be confident we have reduced any risk of its transmission in the community to a point where it is extremely low, which is the whole purpose of the rules we have,’ he said.
