Isle of Man has positive Covid-19 test

Sunday 06 September 2020

The Isle of Man has recorded its first case of Covid-19 in 108 days - however the island's Chief Minister has said there is a low risk to the wider community at a hastily-arranged press conference today.

The case was confirmed late last night.

The Isle of Man's Chief Minister Howard Quayle said the risk to the wider community is "extremely low".

"First and foremost I would like to emphasise that there is no cause for concern," he said. "The positive test result came from a resident who was in self-isolation, having recently returned to the island. 

"This individual has been self-isolating alone at home for seven days. The individual concerned has not been outside of their home during that time. They have told us that they have complied with all of the instructions issued to them on their return. They will now continue their self-isolation until we know they pose no risk to others."

Pictured: Aurigny's flights to Isle of Man are due to end on Sunday 20 September. 

The Isle of Man is currently Guernsey's only destination for restriction-less travel, although the air bridge is due to end on 20 September.

It was originally due to come to an end at the end of August, however it was extended by Aurigny due to its popularity and the absence of any other travel options under Guernsey's current border restrictions. 

Mr Quayle said the island's robust contact tracing programme has already started in order to sort out any "loose ends".

"While we can no longer say we have no cases on the island, we have no reason at present to think that we have Covid in our community," he said. 

"I want to make clear that there will be no change in our approach to coronavirus at this stage.  You are free to continue going about your daily lives as normal and schools will resume on Wednesday.  The roll-out of optional “Day 7” testing for returning residents - which I announced on Thursday - will still go live tomorrow as planned."