Covid: Isle of Man 'on track' to start easing lockdown next week

A total of 1,566 people have tested positive for Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic

The Isle of Man is "on track" to start easing coronavirus lockdown restrictions next week, the chief minister has said.

But Howard Quayle added the Council of Ministers would first need to "see how the next few days unfold" before making any firm decisions.

The island has now had four consecutive days with no new cases of unknown origin emerging.

Details of which restrictions could be eased have not yet been confirmed.

An announcement on the reopening of the island's schools is due to be made on Thursday.

The island entered its third lockdown on 3 March after a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases.

Four people have died with the virus since the start of the current outbreak, taking the island's death toll to 29.

Howard Quayle said the easing of lockdown restrictions could not be rushed

Sounding a note of caution, Mr Quayle said the government "must not rush" the move out of lockdown.

He said: "As things stand, we are still on track to be able to start making some changes to measures from around 6 April.

"We all want this to be a one-way journey out of lockdown. So this means we need to get it absolutely right."

Eight new infections have been recorded in the last 24 hours, all of which can be linked to previously identified positive cases.

There are now a total of 391 active cases on the island, down from a peak of 881 on 21 March.

Ten people with Covid-19 are currently receiving hospital treatment, with one in intensive care.

Director of public health Henrietta Ewart said while everything was "going in the right direction", health officials could not be assured that local elimination had been reached until there had been 28 days of no new unexplained cases.