Coronavirus cases in Guernsey rise to 329

Guernsey identified 36 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, 10 of which were of unknown origin

Health officials have stressed the "need to be extremely cautious" as the the number of known coronavirus cases has risen to 329.

Of 36 new cases indentified on Tuesday, the States of Guernsey was unable to identify where 10 of those infected caught the virus.

Five people are currently being treated in the Princess Elizabeth Hospital.

Since the outbreak began last month, 90 infections have been from an unknown source.

Contact tracing has identified 246 of the cases, with six others linked to inbound travel.

The bailiwick went into lockdown on 23 January, after the first four cases of community transmission were found.

'Extremely cautious'

Director of Public Health Dr Nicola Brink explained the island was "progressing in the right direction", with a rise in the proportion of cases identified through the contact tracing process.

However, she said the community was "not out of the woods" yet, with the continued identification of islanders catching coronavirus without an obvious source.

Dr Brink explained some people were contacting health authorities three or four days after developing Covid-19 symptoms, which can cause delays to the contact tracing process.

There has been an increase in the number of cases in older people, with 31 islanders aged over 70 currently affected.

Dr Brink added there was "some concern" over this, and that it "really emphasises to us the need to be extremely cautious at this point in time."

The strain of the virus linked to the outbreak is not yet known, but she confirmed the States were waiting on confirmation after sending samples for testing.

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