A team of workers from the Department of Infrastructure have transformed the island’s flagship sporting venue in the fight against Covid-19.

As part of the Department of Health and Social Care’s emergency planning, the National Sports Centre was briefly considered as a site for a field hospital for non-Covid-19 patients, writes Dave Kneale.

Instead the facility has found a less dramatic - but crucially important - role as the island’s hub for personal protective equipment (or PPE).

The equipment is being distributed by a six-strong team from the Department of Infrastructure.

’We came in on April 3 with a few pallets and a bare sports hall,’ explained Tim Cowin, head of highway and asset management at the Department of Infrastructure.

Once it became obvious that there wasn’t enough storage space at Noble’s Hospital, Mr Cowin found himself in a new role: transforming the NSC into the island’s PPE distribution hub.

’The first task was to board out the floor and get ourselves organised,’ he said.

’Then it was about getting a stock control system going, and figuring out how we could distribute the equipment.’

As well as serving the frontline medics at Noble’s Hospital, four members of the team are permanently on the road delivering protective equipment to GP surgeries, police stations, care homes and adult social care facilities across the island.

’They’re all DoI Highways guys’, Mr Cowin explained. ’We have a paver driver, the paving team leader and the guy who drives the ’hot box’ that takes the tar to highways jobs. They’ve been really positive and worked right through the Easter weekend.’

The subject of PPE has become a thorny issue in the UK, and to a lesser extent in the Isle of Man.

Previously it had been freely available to frontline medics, but now supplies are being released in batches.

The NSC team isn’t responsible for deciding what supplies go where; only for delivering the orders as they are approved by DHSC.

The DoI team’s new role is part of the unseen logistical efforts that underpin the island’s response to the crisis.

They must monitor stock levels and keep track of shipments arriving from all over the world.

The sheer volume of PPE required is stunning: the island might have 350,000 face masks in stock, but up to 25,000 are being distributed every day. With unprecedented global demand for PPE, shipments aren’t always predictable.

Supplies of protective goggles were running dangerously low until members of the community stepped up to manufacture thousands of face shields using 3D printers and sheets of acetate.

To support this effort the DoI team collected the components for assembly, brought the finished products to the NSC and delivered them on the daily runs.

’They really made a difference’, Mr Cowin said. ’The community efforts made sure that we never ran out.’

The supply was topped up late last week with a delivery of 126,000 protective visors.

Meanwhile a ’significant’ stock of gowns and all-in-one protective suits have arrived in the last few days, along with an extra 250,000 disposable gloves and thousands of bottles of sanitiser from the Fynoderee gin distillery.

’It’s been a complete change for us, but it’s really good to do something to support the Isle of Man,’ Mr Cowin said. ’It’s been a lot of effort and long hours but we’re all proud to be doing our small part.’