The island is starting a path back to normality - with some lockdown restrictions eased tomorrow (Saturday) and all planned to be lifted on or around February 1.

Chief Minister Howard Quayle yesterday announced the easing of some restrictions on outdoor gatherings and trades from Saturday.

And he said Ministers were working towards a full exit from the circuit breaker, including the reopening of schools, from February 1, if there’s been 21 days of no community transmission.

He said: ’From first thing Saturday we will be into a transition phase towards our exit from lockdown. I know this will be welcome news for many.

’But please let’s not forget that there is still a risk that there is virus in our community. The best thing is to continue to act like it is out there.’

There are no plans to change border controls at this stage, said Mr Quayle.

But he said travel restrictions could start being lifted from the end of May once everyone aged 50 and above has been vaccinated but any change will depend on the infection rate in the UK.

By day 15 of the circuit breaker lockdown yesterday (Thursday), no new cases had been identified for three days and there had been nine consecutive days with no community cases.

The number of active cases has fallen to 48, with one in hospital.

From midnight (Friday/Saturday) a number of lockdown measures will be eased.

A range of construction and trades will be allowed to return to work, including electricians, roofers, decorators, gardeners, builders, joiners and window cleaners.

But they must either work alone or maintain social distancing and where this is not possible, they must use face coverings.

Tradespeople may work indoors only if they are working alone on an empty property.

Also from tomorrow you will be able to meet with friends or family, or exercise with people from other households, so long as this is outdoors and you maintain social distancing.

Mr Quayle stressed social distancing would continue to be important and the public would be asked to carry on wearing face coverings as much as possible.

The last lockdown was lifted in phases over 12 weeks but the Chief Minister said it was hoped to come out of the circuit breaker in around 12 days.

He said: ’To some this may sound awfully rushed. But we have collectively agreed that we should work towards a full exit after 21 days of no community transmission.

’That means - subject to no further community cases - we would plan to lift all restrictions on all activities on or around February 1.’

This, he said, would mean a return to the life we enjoyed for over six months at the end of last year, with businesses back up and running, social distancing not needed and face coverings more a matter of personal choice.

The education department will be speaking to headteachers shortly to ensure that if all is well schools will be able to open to all students from February 1, he told the Covid briefing yesterday.

Mr Quayle said the borders remained our strongest shield against importing the virus.

But he accepted border restrictions cannot remain in place forever and a key moment will be when all those at most risk of getting sick from the virus have been vaccinated. For the first priority group, the vulnerable and over-50s, that would be the end of May.

From next Tuesday new applications for compassionate and contractual travellers can resume.

Director of public health Dr Henrietta Ewart said there had been five unexplained cases since Christmas.

Three of these have now been linked to known clusters through genomic sequencing, leaving two cases of unknown origin but sequencing could still identify their source.

Dr Ewart said she was reasonably optimistic, though tempered with caution, that it was becoming less and less likely that we’ve got onward chains of transmission we don’t know about.