879 passengers travelled to the Bailiwick last weekend and the majority took a coronavirus test on arrival.

Operation Jingle Bells has been ongoing over the past week with almost 900 people arriving in the islands, many of them students returning home on special Aurigny flights for Christmas.

Friday was the busiest day for travel.

Overall, 81% of travellers - 710 people - opted to take a day one COVID-19 test at the airport or harbour.

169 people chose not to be swabbed.  That includes children under 12 who are not required to take test on arrival, those who are unable to take a test and those who have chosen to self-isolate for 14 days without being tested.

Richard Evans, Programme Director - Travel Tracker said the teams involved in processing travellers have worked extremely hard over the weekend to cope with the anticipated spike in travellers coming home for Christmas and New Year.

"All passengers who have arrived in the Bailiwick must self-isolate for 14 days on arrival. Some are isolating on their own, or with friends and family. We know that this is challenging and we thank them to sticking to the rules and working with us to keep the Bailiwick safe this winter."

Dr Brink, Director of Public Health said:

"The Pathology laboratory team processed 839 COVID-19 samples over the weekend alongside all of their other diagnostic work. Some swabs taken on Sunday afternoon/evening will be processed today. The Public Health team were also working over the weekend to communicate the results to travellers and to answer any queries.

"The fact that we have not identified any positive results from these 839 tests tells me that travellers from the UK have been complying with the COVID-19 restrictions where they were living which is excellent news for the Bailiwick. Once again, I would like to thank returning students for their continued cooperation – this is really appreciated.

"We now need those returning travellers to respect the self-isolation requirements imposed on them for 14 days. I know it is difficult but it is necessary to ensure we can continue to work and socialise in our Bailiwick bubble.’

We now have 3 (known) active cases of COVID-19 in the Bailiwick, as no new cases have been found in the last day and one person has recovered.

189 people are awaiting their results.