There has been a further positive case confirmed in a Covid cluster - taking the total to five.

Chief Minister Howard Quayle gave an update following an emergency Tynwald question tabled by Onchan MHK Julie Edge.

He said last week a cluster was identified involving three confirmed positive cases with a clear line of transmission from another case who travelled to the north west of England.

All were now completing their 14-day isolation.

Mr Quayle said a further positive case was identified yesterday evening. The individual was a close contact identified last week through contact tracing and had been self-isolating since then.

The Chief Minister said there may well be further cases among other close contacts who were already asked to self-isolate.

But he said they had all been tested and come back as negative ’so when they were in the community they were not spreading the illness’.

’I can’t make any guarantees there will be no further cases from those that are in quarantine at this moment in time,’ he said.

The Chief Minister told Tynwald that a close contact of the original case developed the disease which was identified on Monday evening and then two of their close contacts went on to develop Covid which was confirmed on Tuesday evening following test results.

Contact tracing concluded on Wednesday.

Mr Quayle said there had been speculation as to whether the cluster amounted to community transmission.

He said that under World Health Organisation definitions, community transmission relates to circumstances where the source of transmission is not known.