Business trips to Guernsey for essential meetings are now permitted under new ‘business tunnel’ rules outlined by the Civil Contingencies Authority.
According to the States of Guernsey, the island’s economy will benefit from allowing on-island business meetings to take place – in accordance to Public Health guidance – in situations where the physical presence of off-island representatives is necessary.
The island’s state-owned airline, Aurigny, will begin additional flights on 28 July to facilitate Guernsey’s new ‘business tunnel.’ These will allow passengers to arrive and return on the same day, and will be twice weekly on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Business travellers will not have to self-isolate.
‘We’re taking a very careful, considered approach to moving to phase 6. It’s important to us that any lifting of restrictions on travel is safe, so that we don’t find ourselves needing to lockdown our local community which would have a big impact on the economy, but also on each of us as individuals,’ said Deputy Gavin St Pier, President of the Civil Contingencies Authority.
‘But we know the restrictions for travel create some very significant challenges, and we’ve sought to find temporary solutions for those. “Business tunnels” are an example of that, and will mean that for those meetings that absolutely have to be done in person, there is a way of accommodating them without putting the health of our community at significant risk.’
Business travel will be strictly regulated and all business travellers must notify the government of their intention to travel at least seven days’ prior to arriving. They will also have to provide information to Public Health and Law Enforcement on their whereabouts during the visit, and must only conduct their business in designated locations, such as an office building or airport hangar.
They will also need to maintain social distance, not share pens, phones or other items and keep a record of their contacts for at least 14 days after the meeting. Business travellers will also be able to travel to Guernsey on a private aircraft but will need to comply with the same requirements.
All visitors not using Guernsey’s ‘business tunnel’ have to self-isolate on arrival for 14 days. The island trialled a seven-day isolation period in July, testing passengers for Covid-19 on day seven of their stay. During the one-week trial, no new cases of of the virus were detected.
