A major survey will launch today seeking to learn as much as possible about the experiences of Bailiwick residents during the pandemic

Deputy Heidi Soulsby, President of the Committee for Health & Social Care said “This has been the most extraordinary time most of us have lived through, the greatest public health crisis and the most significant curtailing of our normal freedoms since the Second World War.

"We’ve been incredibly successful in dealing with the immediate challenges posed by the pandemic, but we must do as much as possible to capture all the information about how it’s impacted our community. Everyone has played their role in our response so far, we’ve all taken seriously our
responsibility to each other in the spirit of Guernsey Together, and part of that now is to help ensure we learn as much as we can. I’d ask Islanders to keep that at the front of their minds as we roll out this survey.”

The survey will cover several areas. It will ask the members of the community how they felt about the restrictions brought in over the various phases, what challenges they faced, what impact it had because of their personal circumstances, and how they found the information and services from the States of Guernsey.

It will seek to cover a number of specific aspects of the overall COVID-19 response, including working and schooling, income and expenditure, staying at home, bubbling and travel.

Deputy Gavin St Pier, President of the Policy & Resources Committee said “While we’ve reached phase 5 and that feels like an incredible milestone on a long, hard road, we know this isn’t over. COVID-19 continues to affect the rest of the world, we still need to look at when and how we move to phase 6 and we must be mindful that it is always possible we see the virus return to the Bailiwick. We also need to quickly get on with the job of recovering our economy and turning our Revive and Thrive strategy into a reality.

"Now, while we have a little space to catch up on what has already happened we must make the most of that and gather as much information about our experience as possible, to prepare for what comes next.”

Paul Whitfield, Chief Executive of the States of Guernsey said “The results from this survey will build upon the feedback already being received
through the Community Monitoring Tool, independent business and charity surveys, the COVID-19 helplines and support emails and social media.

"Gathering all that data is a big task and it’s something our officers have worked incredibly hard on. The same goes for preparing this survey in a very short turnaround time, but the additional information it brings in will be well worth it.”

The survey will be available online at gov.gg/yourviews or paper copies can be requested by 07839 121515 or comms@gov.gg.

Surveys in Latvian, Polish and Portuguese will also be available.