The Chief Minister has announced the relaxing of some Covid restrictions from Friday.
Howard Quayle unveiled the next steps of the plan to respond to the Covid crisis and insisted: ’CoMin will never put the economy above the lives of our people.’
From the morning of Friday April 24 there will be two broad areas of change, he said.
Builders, construction workers, tradesmen, window cleaners and gardeners will be able to return to work provided that they can do so safely and within social distancing guidelines.Hardware stores and builders' merchants can also operate as can waste and recycling points.And from the same date, there will no longer be limits on the time people can be out of their own homes.
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There will no longer be a requirement that trips out must be for essential reasons only, and there will be a widening of what recreation you can undertake.
But restrictions on public gatherings of people that do not include your household remain in place.
And Mr Quayle said the time was not yet right to open up our borders, saying the situation in the UK had to improve first.
He said that if figures don’t spike after some sectors return to work, then other sectors could follow.'We will review it after eight to 10 days,' he said. 'We cannot be complacent.'We will be testing and tracing every day to tell us where the problem is if there is a spike.'Mr Quayle urged people to stay at home if they can and work at home where possible. 'We are asking people to be sensible,' he said. 'If there are abuses, action will be taken.'Further details of what the public can and can not do will be given over the next few days.Earlier he told Tynwald the coronavirus outbreak is expected to peak around May 7 to 10.Health Minister David Ashford said there had been seven new cases of coronavirus. But he added: 'We have got to get away from the obsession about daily data. What matters is the trend.'The Chief Minister said what health and social care professional had achieved had been ’nothing short of a miracle’ and he praised the public for complying with the stay at home restrictions.
’This has been a team effort,’ he said.
Mr Quayle said the island will soon have its own oxygen production facility. ’This has been a challenge across the UK and we will shortly be able to produce our own,’ he said.