The chief minister has said there is no current need for government interventions regarding Covid-19 in the island.

Alfred Cannan was asked by Rushen MHK Dr Michelle Haywood if he is satisfied that the conditions supporting the endemic approach to living with Covid are still being met.

Mr Cannan said he remains ‘satisfied’ that appropriate precautions remain in place.

Whilst he admitted that Covid-19 case numbers continue to ‘ebb and flow’ – citing recent high case numbers post-TT – he said the situation is being ‘carefully monitored’.

The island moved to an ‘endemic’ strategy on April 1, when all legal restrictions around isolation, borders and testing were dropped.

He stated that when this decision was made, it was based on a number of assumptions: that our health services were operating normally, vaccines remained available and effective, there were no new variants of concern, the situation on the island was stable and that the situation in the British Isles was stable.

Mr Cannan said: ‘These assumptions continue to be reviewed and there has been no broad change in any of these areas. So, for the time being, whilst there may be changes in the numbers of people affected, there does not appear to be a need to increase levels of government intervention at this time.’

However, he warned that there could be a very different picture in winter, when respiratory illnesses put additional pressures on the Manx health service.

But Mr Cannan assured MHKs that the interim director of public health is developing a plan ahead of the winter period, as is Manx Care.

Draft plans from both entities will be ready for review in September.