The legal requirement to social distance will end on Monday.

Announcing the move at a press briefing this afternoon, Chief Minister Howard Quayle said: ’The time has come to take a big step out of your lives. We know this is a bold step but we believe it is the right one at the right time.’

’We are boldly heading to our new Manx normal.’

The requirement for social distancing was due to be halved to 1m from Monday.

But following a Council of Ministers’ meeting today, the legal obligation to social distance is to be removed from that date.

It will however remain for health and care settings including residential homes and other places that protect the vulnerable.

Mr Quayle said the move was possible because by early next week the island will have gone 28 days without a positive case of coronavirus.

This is double the 14 days widely considered to the virus’s maximum incubation period.

This would be the point where we would have achieved local elimination of the virus and we are as close to being 100% free of Covid as it possible to be without a vaccine, explained Mr Quayle.

He said we are currently 22 days without a new case and given the ’incredibly low risk or possibly zero risk, it was most important to take this step out of your lives’.

He said the removal of the social distancing requirement ’will make a real difference to all our lives’.

But he warned: ’It may come back to 1m as we has originally planned if cases increase to a level of concern.’

Mr Quayle said some may want to continue to self-isolate.

In other moves, the Chief Minister said he wanted remaining restrictions on the leisure and hospitality sector, including pubs, clubs, cinemas and theatres, to be removed ’sooner rather than later'.He hoped to make an announcement on this next week following detailed consultation with the industry.

CoMin will be discussing further changes to the rules on gatherings on Monday and he hoped to have ’positive news’ on this early next week.

But he said the government is not ready to make significant changes to our borders yet. This will be discussed by CoMin at the end of this month.