Isle of Man Covid cases begin to fall following sharp spike

There were 21 people in hospital with Covid on Tuesday

Covid infections on the Isle of Man have fallen by about a third following a sharp rise in cases last week.

The seven-day average for daily new cases has fallen from 228 to 144 as a spike in community transmission slows.

The figures were published as part of the latest public health surveillance report.

The document also shows that two further deaths with Covid have been recorded, which means 110 people have now died with the virus.

A snapshot of hospital admissions showed there were 21 people with the virus being treated on Tuesday, up from 18 last week, with two having been admitted for symptoms of Covid.

The spike in cases was thought to be a result of a large influx of people during the TT period, the report said.

Two year groups at Castle Rushen High School have had lessons disrupted

The fall in cases comes as another secondary school has asked some students to stay at home due to staff shortages.

Year nine pupils at Castle Rushen High School were told to study from home on Thursday, while those in Year 10 have been told to go home at 11:20 BST on Friday following the completion of their maths mock exam.

In a letter to parents, head teacher Keith Winstanley said staff absences had again increased to a point where some lessons had to be "reluctantly" cancelled.

"It is not yet clear to us whether we will be able to teach all the other years in school for the remainder of the week," he added.

It follows a similar situation at Ballakermeen and St Ninian's high schools in Douglas last week.