The island’s high street has been given the green light to reopen from today, as the government announced the lifting of more Covid restrictions.

However, many shops are understood to not be ready to open and UK chain shops might have to wait until they get the go-ahead from headquarters in the UK.

Meanwhile, children of those in construction, trades and horticulture are now able to return to school and the property market can resume activity.

But Chief Minister Howard Quayle was not yet able to provide much-hoped-for news on gatherings.

’We are close to be able to make changes,’ he told a press conference last week.

He said the Council of Ministers had asked for further clarity on what he said was an ’incredibly complex’ area and he would make an announcement today (Monday).

Mr Quayle said he recognised the restrictions on people meeting with loved ones outside their household had an impact on so many aspects of island life.

The Council of Ministers agreed last week to allow non-essential retail businesses today where they are ready to do so.

Guidance has been published to ensure shop premises are safe for customers and staff.

Mr Quayle said if stores are not ready to reopen that was ’perfectly okay’.

’It’s an opportunity, not an obligation,’ he said.

He said that some businesses would not yet be able to reopen such as bars, cinemas and gyms, where large numbers of people come together, as well as lifestyle enterprises such as hairdressers and beauticians.

From Monday, May 18, workers in construction, trades and horticulture will be able to send their children to one of the existing education hubs.

Parents and carers should contact their head teacher to discuss this development to enable planning around the numbers of children involved.

The Chief Minister said the Council of Ministers was not quite ready to allow children’s nurseries to reopen. ’We know this will be frustrating to many people but we do want to get this right,’ he said.

Ministers will further review the possibility of nurseries opening on Thursday, May 21. The Chief Minister said estate agents will be able to resume sales operations from Monday.

Initial viewings should be done virtually where possible, and physical viewings limited to as few people as possible with the vendors vacating the premises while they are taking place.

The Council of Ministers has also agreed that archery, target shooting, paddle sports, and crown green and lawn bowls can all resume, while observing social distancing requirements.

Meanwhile, the island is set to benefit in the rolling-out across the British Isles of a new lab-based antibody test made by Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, which had been approved by Public Health England.

Mr Quayle said these blood tests, which can tell whether you’ve ever had Covid-19, would be a ’key tool in the management of the virus’.

He said that once final verification of the accuracy of the tests had been received, the island will be included in the roll-out as we are part of the UK supply chain.

’We already have the ability with some little changes to carry out antibody testing once we have the product,’ he said.

Infrastructure Minister Ray Harmer revealed there had been ’unforeseen setbacks’ in the Liverpool ferry terminal project.

He explained that while construction had never stopped, rules on social distancing and supply chain issues had made things more complex and this could affect the completion date.

Health Minister David Ashford was quizzed over the death of an Abbotswood resident following their transfer from the home this week.

Mr Ashford said this was an end of life patient and there was nothing that indicated the move had caused anything that ’would not have happened in any case’. ’That doesn’t make this any better,’ he added.

He expressed his condolences and said the department’s view was that the ideal solution would have been for the residents to have remained at the home but this had not proved possible.