Coronavirus: Isle of Man confirms first two cases

Until Thursday, the Isle of Man had no recorded cases of the coronavirus

The Isle of Man has recorded its first two cases of coronavirus, the Manx government has confirmed.

Chief Minister Howard Quayle said on Friday the second case was a person who returned from the UK, but he gave no details.

The island confirmed its first case on Thursday evening, a man who had returned from a trip to Spain.

Mr Quayle has announced increased measures to contain the spread of the virus.

The Villa Marina, Gaiety Theatre and many of the island's National Sport Centre facilities would also be shut.

The recording of details of passengers travelling to the island would be "strengthened" to help police enforce the new laws requiring all arrivals to self-isolate for a 14-day period, Mr Quayle said.

He urged against "non-essential travel", called on home working wherever possible, and asked people to avoid crowded places such as pubs and restaurants.

All government-run learning disability day services have closed and all but emergency respite care would stop.

While the island's schools would remain open, parents could remove their children from classes "without any sanction".

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Health Minister David Ashford said the first person to be diagnosed was "currently defined as a mild case", and the patient was self-isolating at home and had not required hospital treatment.

He said: "It is important at this time to confirm that there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission. The patient's family are showing no symptoms.

"This is a quite obviously a challenging moment for all of us and our island community."