The island’s government revealed the news over the weekend regarding an individual who had recently travelled and had passed the virus on within their family bubble.
Public Health director Dr Nicola Brink said that new arrivals into Guernsey were continuing to be closely monitored.
‘As part of our surveillance we send our samples to the UK for genetic sequencing,’ she said.
‘We send them to the UK to specifically look to see if we have the new variant, the UK variant virus, and one of the isolates indeed confirmed that.’
She added that the individual in question arrived in Guernsey without knowing they had the virus and had made a full recovery. But while isolating they infected everyone in their family bubble.
‘This emphasises the enhanced transmissibility of the new variant that has been described within the UK,’ said Dr Brink.
The new variant, which was first detected in the south-east of England, is believed to be 70% more transmissible than the original strain. It has also been identified in France, Denmark, the Netherlands and Australia.
Guernsey has taken a very firm stance on eliminating Covid-19 and has imposed very tight border controls during the pandemic. On 8 January the island’s government announced only essential inward travel would be allowed, citing concerns over the emergence of the new strain.
A spokesperson for the Government of Jersey confirmed that no cases of the new variant have been identified in the Island yet.
