Omicron 'causing more coronavirus reinfections'
Protection against Covid reinfection has dropped drastically because of the Omicron variant
At a glance
The Omicron variant of coronavirus is causing more people in Guernsey to be reinfected with Covid, health bosses say.
Reinfection protection for six months after an infection has dropped from 85% to under 20%.
Sixty-five of 70 reinfections in the Bailiwick of Guernsey have occurred within the last month.
- Published
The spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 is leading to more people in Guernsey becoming reinfected with coronavirus, health bosses have said.
Just five people in the Bailiwick of Guernsey were known to have had Covid-19 more than once before the emergence of Omicron.
That number has increased to 70 since the beginning of December, official figures have revealed.
Guernsey's director of public health, Dr Nicola Brink, said it soon became apparent there was a higher risk of reinfection.
She said: "Prior to the advent of Omicron, if you'd had an infection, that gave you about 85% protection against reinfection for a period of six months.
"This has dropped to 19% for Omicron."
Dance teacher Eleanor Lane, who has been among people who have tested positive twice, said she was upset about having to isolate and miss work again.
She said: "I cried because it was my second day back [after the first infection] and yet a positive result came a second time. I couldn't really believe it."