Covid: Isle of Man can 'go about business' after no new cases

People on the Isle of Man are once again free to "go about their business as normal" after no new cases of coronavirus were detected overnight, the government has said.

On Saturday, residents were urged to stay at home after two cases with no known chain of transmission emerged.

While the origin of those remained unknown, "extensive testing of close contacts" returned no new positive results, a government spokesman said.

The island has 48 active cases.

The call for people to cancel events and avoid household mixing came after nine new cases emerged on Saturday, including the pair of unexplained origin.

It sparked fears the virus could once again be circulating in the community.

Chief Minister Howard Quayle said the emergence of no new cases overnight was "grounds for optimism".

The government was "as confident as we can be that there has been no further transmission from these two cases", he said.

Following a meeting earlier, the Council of Ministers had "decided that we do not need to bring in any further formal measures at this stage", Mr Quayle added.

"We will of course continue to monitor the situation very carefully and things might change, and might change rapidly," he said.

A list of venues visited by the newest cases has been released, and anyone who develops even mild symptoms has been urged to self-isolate and arrange to be tested.

Of the current active cases, 43 are linked to a cluster that stems from a ferry crew member, and three were detected through the island's strict isolation and testing regime for travellers.

A total of 484 people on the island have tested positive for Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, 25 of whom have died.

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