The government has no plans to alter next week’s border relaxations in the face of case increases in the UK.

From Monday, people travelling between the island and the rest of the British Isles who have had both Covid vaccination doses- administered in the British Isles, with at least two weeks since the second dose - will not be subject to any testing or isolation requirements upon arrival here.

The measures, a remodelled version of previous plans to fully unlock borders, were approved by Tynwald last week.

This morning, Chief Minister Howard Quayle said he understood concerns about the UK situation and the government would act if necessary.

But he said the vaccination programmes in the UK and the island had vastly reduced the number of hospitalisations from Covid-19.

He admitted: ’I am nervous. I have never tried to hide that.

’But I believe now is the right time to move forward in a balanced way.

’Should something happen in the interim we will of course come back to Tynwald with changes.’

Mr Quayle was responding to an urgent question in the House of Keys, tabled by Claire Christian (Douglas South).

The UK’s much-vaunted ’freedom day’ - when all restrictions were due to lift - was put back to July 19, in the face of case increases and concern at the spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19.