Deputy Gavin St Pier closed the States press conference by wishing islanders a "very enjoyable" Liberation Day, in "very odd circumstances".

Mr St Pier said: "But please, please do follow the guidance and the advice, external."

"It would be a terrible irony if we ended up over celebrating Liberation Day in a way that took us into a poorer position than we're currently in."

Guernsey's care homes will form the front line of Guernsey's expanded testing regime, Dr Nicola Brink said.

The director of Public Health said the homes would be an "integral part" of the policy.

Dr Brink confirmed one of the two badly affected facilities had "completely resolved" its issues, while the second still had six people affected.

She reiterated the homes were still "extremely vulnerable" to a coronavirus outbreak and Public Health had a "duty" to ensure everything they provide is as "safe as possible".

President of Health and Social Care Heidi Soulsby emphasised the island's care homes are private companies and the States has no involvement in their running.

Deputy Soulsby said: "There is inspections of care homes, but no regulation and that is something that we plan to bring in."

The introduction of a regulation scheme was being discussed before the pandemic began.

Work on reducing the cost of seeing a GP during the coronavirus crisis could become part of the island's future, said Deputy Heidi Soulsby.

The president of the Health and Social Care Committee said the issue went beyond the current public health crisis.

Deputy Soulsby said: "This is not just about the cost of seeing a GP, it's about reconfiguring primary care.

"We're working with Queen's Road Medical Practice to see how can we do things differently."

Senior psychiatrist Dr Dom Bishop concurred with the idea of reimagining how support can be provide for people struggling and in need of support.

Dr Bishop emphasised a doctor could proscribe drug treatments for people struggling with mental health, but argued this was often not the solution for people with worries over issues like being unable to pay bills.

He said: "If they are unable to stop worrying about these sometimes it does help to talk about them.

"But the old-fashioned model of a doctor fixes everything is expensive and it's not particularly effective."

An announcement with more information about the possible return of pupils to Guernsey schools will likely be issued next week, States chief executive Paul Whitfield has announced.

Education officials, teachers and other stakeholders were all "working hard" to try to establish what a "return strategy" for students and staff would look like, Mr Whitfield said.

He added the option of school term extended into the summer was "highly unlikely" because teachers needed to be protected.

"We're conscious that the teaching staff have also worked all the way through [school closures] in terms of providing supervision for [the children of] essential workers."

Non-essential travellers coming to Guernsey are still be required to self-isolate for two weeks upon arrival, Deputy Gavin St Pier has reiterated.

Leaving or visiting the island to "reconnect" with friends and relatives people are separated from is not advised.

Mr St Pier said: "Self-isolation is not just going into a household bubble and doing whatever that bubble does.

"It means going into a room on your own for 14 days."

He said people would need to be "supported" by those around them and they would be alone for the whole two weeks.

Mr St Pier added: "It is not a particularly comfortable experience... so it is not to be encouraged.

"Really the borders are now our front line, so actually this is very serious that we do need to maintain that strict control until we are comfortable.

"We cannot run the risk of re-importing this and starting all over again."

Dr Dominic Bishop, consultant psychiatrist, said a mental health "crash" may occur once the coronavirus pandemic passes.

"Some people will keep going, and then when this finishes, they'll crash.

"There are a lot of heroes that will struggle to the end. and we're well aware of that", he said.

Islanders are being reminded not to cut their hedges until 1 June, in line with Guernsey law.

Deputy Gavin St Pier said it was to protect wildlife during the current "peak nesting season".

Under law residents should carry out work needed on hedges or banks between 1 and 15 June.

Senior psychiatrist and consultant Dom Bishop said it has been "difficult" to predict how different groups of people will cope mentally with the threat of coronavirus.

He said those living with mental health illnesses on their own have coped "incredibly" during the lockdown.

This compares to people who have been "stable for years", and have "decompensated", Dr Bishop said.

"I think it's important to acknowledge that actually being worried about what we're experiencing at the moment is entirely normal.

"Anxiety is fear without threat, or exaggerated fear to a threat. We are facing a threat, so we should be worried.It is that worry that will hopefully keep us on message", he said.

Dr Bishop encouraged the community to check in on each other on a regular basis.

Press conferences detailing the latest on the coronavirus pandemic in the Bailiwick of Guernsey will be reduced to once a week.

From next week they will be held at 13:00 on a Friday, but Deputy Gavin St Pier said if the situation changed they would look at holding them more often.

Homes in the Bailiwick have "never looked better dressed for Liberation" States chief executive Paul Whitfield has said.

He said the States had been "overwhelmed" by the "spectacular" response to their calls to "decorate to liberate".

Mr Whitfield said: "I myself have put out flags and like every other household my family are finding new ways to celebrate this weekend."

He said all events that can have been moved online and were being broadcast by BBC Radio Guernsey.

A senior psychiatrist has emphasised how "lucky" people are to be in Guernsey during the current crisis, while acknowledging it was "normal" to be worried.

Dr Dom Bishop said people's concerns about the "threat" of coronavirus were entirely rational, but argued they could also be helpful in making sure people stick to public health advice and keep each other safe.

He added the situation the island found itself in was significantly better than other jurisdictions.

Dr Bishop said: "We've got a director of Public Health who is an expert in viruses... and we've got politicians who aren't arguing and are going along with all the advice."

"We're in a very different position to other places and I think we really need to think about that and consider ourselves very lucky."

A senior psychiatrist has emphasised the support being provided for front-line healthcare staff in Guernsey.

Consultant Dr Dom Bishop said the health services were "especially concerned" with safeguarding the mental health and wellbeing of its workers.

Dr Bishop said they had established a working group to provide support and care to all areas of the healthcare sector.

He said: "We also allocated a senior clinician to each area.

"We've seen several people and I hope we've helped them, but we haven't been overwhelmed."

Over 65s will be allowed to leave their homes for any activity of their choice under the new lockdown measures.

Dr Nicola Brink said she was happy to relax the restrictions, which previously required overs 65s to spend as little time as possible outside of their homes.

She said the measures had initially been introduced to prevent the hospital from becoming overwhelmed, and because this age group were more likely to suffer severe illness if they caught covid-19.

Anyone in this age group is still urged to consider the risks of each activity.

"We believe that people are entirely capable of thinking about that, and making that judgement," Dr Brink said.

Public Health has confirmed people can celebrate Liberation Day in their front gardens as part of boosting "community spirit", as long as they stick to household bubble and social distancing advice.

Director Dr Nicola Brink acknowledged it would be a "very different" commemoration day for islanders, but expressed hope, most would be able to enjoy it as much as possible.

Dr Brink said: "Don't pass things over the wall and so on, have that community spirit in your street if that's what you want, but don't spill over.

"We're at a critical point now, we've done so well what we don't want to do is lose the ground we've got," she added.

There have been 252 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Guernsey to date, Dr Nicole Brink confirmed.

It is the seventh consecutive day without a new case.

More than 3,500 samples have been tested, with 222 people having recovered from the virus.

Dr Nicola Brink said the fall of active cases to 15 was "really encouraging".

People can now spend up to four hours outside of their house for exercise or recreational activities, the States has announced.

The two-hour increase was approved by the Committee for Health and Social Care (HSC), on the advice of the director of Public Health Dr Nicola Brink.

The change was permitted after a seventh consecutive day in Guernsey without a new confirmed case of coronavirus.

President of HSC Heidi Soulsby said it was "encouraging" her committee were able to "accelerate this move".

Deputy Soulsby said: "This had been marked as something we would do when we moved to phase three, but we’re confident doing it now presents a very low risk.”

The four hours that people can now spend outside their homes does not need to be taken all at once, people can split their recreational time across the day however they want, HSC confirmed.

Dr Brink said the move would help support the "mental and physical" health and wellbeing of islanders.

She added: "It’s important we balance the need of limiting the spread of Covid-19, which is incredibly important to protecting our health infrastructure, with the other health impacts people experience while locked down."

Deputy Gavin St Pier has said that a "bold and brave" recovery in Guernsey will be balanced by a "measured and responsive" approach to the public's health.

There are 15 active cases in the island, making it the seventh consecutive day in which there have been no new cases.

"We cannot assume that no new positives, means that we do not have any other cases in the community," Deputy St Pier said.

"The probability that we happen to have captured all our infections is vanishingly small," he added.

Image source, St John Ambulance Guernsey

St John Ambulance Guernsey has redesigned one of the emergency vehicles using old photos depicting the ambulance service during the Occupation.

The photographs were taken by Reg Blanchford, a founding member of St John in Guernsey, who captured the images on a camera that he hid from the Germans.

The three photos show an ambulance damaged by shrapnel during the fatal bombing of the White Rock in June 1940, St John worker Ernie Oliver standing next to a wartime ambulance and the first horse drawn ambulance, used during a fuel shortage in 1944.

Image source, St John Ambulance Guernsey

The logos on the front and sides of the vehicle have also been replaced with the badge used by the service during WW2.

Chief ambulance officer Mark Mapp said the service wanted to "commemorate Liberation 75" and "celebrate" the history of the service.

Mr Mapp said: "It is important that we can reflect on our heritage and remember the service, dedication and sacrifices made by our predecessors.

"St John played an important role in supporting the island through the war years and adapted to the changing needs of the community, just as it is doing today."

BBC Radio Guernsey

A cruise industry expert believes Guernsey will need fundamental changes to its port operations after the current pandemic.

So far this year 47 cruise liners have cancelled their scheduled stops in Guernsey because of the lockdown.

Tony Storey, of Cruise Media Services, said ports including those in the Channel Islands are almost certain to have to change the way ship guests are managed.

Mr Storey said if social distancing remains a feature of life for the foreseeable future, arrangements for coach tours to island attractions will have to change.

He added around twice as many coaches could be needed if distancing means buses can only carry half the normal number of guests.

Guernsey's South Show has been cancelled after becoming "impossible" to hold, the organising committee announced.

The show was supposed to take place on 14 August.

In a statement, the committee members said they had thought "long and hard" about the decision and decided it was necessary because they "rely heavily" on the work of people older than 65.

They added: "The public may also be reluctant to visit the show in any great number because of the requirements of social distancing.

"This would make staging the show impossible. We do not wish to put anyone at risk."

The committee also thanked people for their support, adding they wished to focus on the success of the show in 2021.