Ministers have moved to clarify rules on key worker exemptions and testing for returning residents.

In the House of Keys this month, Chief Minister Howard Quayle was asked how long an exemption to travel to the island for non-residents is valid for.

He replied that once arrivals have completed their 14-day self-isolation they are free to stay.

Mr Quayle told MHKs: ’There is no end date. Once we’ve allowed these people to come to the island they are free to stay as long as they want.’

But Health Minister David Ashford told the Courier that the Chief Minister was referring not to key workers but to those who had been allowed to travel here on compassionate grounds.

Key workers do have an end date on the exemption certificate, after which they would have to leave the island, he said - but an application could be made to extend that period for work purposes.

Mr Ashford confirmed: ’The Chief Minister’s statement in Keys and the line of questioning was not about key workers, it was about those entering on compassionate grounds.

’They are open ended. Key workers have always had a time limit as they are entering to do a job which is time limited.’

The government last week announced a tightening up of border restrictions with the advent of a new highly-contagious mutant strain of the virus in the UK.

These changes include an end to all travel to the island on compassionate grounds and the granting of key worker exemptions only to those needed for the preservation of life and national infrastructure.

Previously key workers could travel here where their work was deemed to be in the economic interests of the island - and move introduced when the full border closure was lifted.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister has explained the rationale of introducing 21-day isolation for returning residents who decline to be tested on day one and 13.

He said 14 days self-isolation was the ’gold standard’ that has done much to protect the island from Covid.

But he said with the likelihood that the mutant strain of the virus arriving here at some point, the 21 days was being introduced to make ’absolutely certain’ anyone coming out of quarantine could not spread it to others.

Director of public health Dr Henrietta Ewart said testing for the mutant strain of the virus will be carried out across.

She explained: ’The Liverpool University laboratory, part of the UK Covid Genomics Testing Consortium, will be processing Covid-positive samples for us.

’This means that we will be sending samples across.

’The benefit of this is that our genomic testing will be done to the same protocols as the UK testing and this will ensure consistency of reporting with the UK programme - as well as enabling an overview of patterns of spread across the UK and Isle of Man.’