Fully jabbed arrivals to get test packs from 6 August

Travellers to Guernsey XO who are coronavirus vaccinated will receive lateral flow testing packs from Friday, the government has announced.

Officials said it would apply to anyone fully vaccinated within the Common Travel Area - the bailiwick, Jersey, the Isle of Man, the UK or the Republic of Ireland - and whose 14-day travel history only involved that area.

The packs of five tests are expected to cost £25 each, with the fee coming into force from Monday 9 August which would "give an appropriate lead-in time for travellers", they added.

From Monday, the payment would be "a requirement for fully vaccinated travellers to be categorised as a 'blue channeler'," the government said.

Registered blue channelers would not have to self-isolate unless they had a positive result from a self-administered test, the government added.

Wider community protection

Passengers were due to have to buy the tests on arrival from 3 August, but they had only just arrived in Guernsey, the government said.

Travellers given the packs on arrival are to be asked to take the first test as soon as they arrive where they are staying and then every other day "to help protect themselves and the wider community".

Anyone who receives a positive result from a self-administered test "must immediately self-isolate and contact the clinical helpline to book a PCR test".

The introduction of the packs is part of a relaxation of coronavirus rules for people travelling to the bailiwick.

Fully vaccinated travellers from Jersey are already able to present the results of an observed lateral flow test from up to two days before an arrival. Beforehand, they had to take a pre-travel PCR test.