Summer Covid Wave Hits Guernsey

There's been a sharp rise in Covid cases over the past week, and a steady increase since mid-June, with 1,241 current known infections.

The latest Public Health figures suggest around one in 50 people in Guernsey has Covid, based on a population of 62,000.

Last week there were 720 known positive cases but it's now 1,241 - that's a rise of 72%. 

948 new infections have been identified and reported over the past week.  665 of those are symptomatic community cases, while 476 people have recovered.

The majority of new cases, 1207, are in Guernsey, 32 are in Alderney and less than 5 are in Sark.

Most people with Covid have had two vaccinations and booster jabs.

10 people in hospital have tested positive.

Both the UK and Jersey have experienced a sure in cases over the past two weeks, with Jersey's known positive cases standing at 1,492 last week while in the UK it's close to 2.3 million.

The Office for National Statistics blames two new Omicron variants, although unusually the spike in cases comes in high summer, when Covid was thought to be less transmissible.

Earlier this week, Public Health in Guernsey advised people to take a Lateral Flow Test before visiting hospital, a care home or anyone who may be vulnerable to Covid, like the elderly.

LFTs are still freely available from the Tourist Information Centre or Beau Sejour.