Tynwald has agreed that a ’robust and speedy’ system of genomic testing is vital in the fight against Covid-19.

Members voted unanimously to support a motion tabled by LibVan leader Lawrie Hooper (Ramsey).

Genomic sequencing of positive Covid test results are currently carried out in Liverpool despite an offer from a Manx company to do them for free.

Analysis by the Liverpool lab has confirmed that all cases in the current outbreak are of the highly-transmissible Kent variant of coronavirus.

Mr Hooper said his motion was not controversial and we needed a variety of measures in place to protect the island against the threat of coronavirus.

He acknowledged genomic testing was not a silver bullet that would solve all our problems.

But he said it was an effective tool to support contact tracing, identification of clusters or numbers of introductions into the community and help to inform public health interventions and decision making.

’It makes sense to have all tools in your tool belt so you can use them when it’s appropriate,’ he said.

’Now is definitely the time to look at a more nuanced response.’

He urged members not to get caught up in the on-island, off-island debate and if we can get the best service through the Liverpool lab ’that is absolutely where we should be going’.

But equally, he said, we have a strong biotech cluster in the island and there was no reason this could not supplement the work being carried out in Liverpool.

Policy and Reform Minister Ray Harmer said rapid genomic sequencing simply confirms what is already known though the usual methods including contact tracing.

cluster

He said the New Year cluster and the current Steam Packet one could clearly be linked back to a single travel related event.

’It simply would not stop the spread,’ he told Tynwald.

The situation in the UK was different, he said, as there are a large number of cases which might be sporadic.

He said the potential role of rapid genomic sequencing as part of the public health response was currently subject to an ongoing trial in the UK.

Health Minister David Ashford pointed out that by the time the first case has generally been identified it will already have spread regardless of what the variant is.

’Knowing what variant it is at the moment does not necessarily prevent the seeding that will have already taken place in the community,’ he said.

Mr Ashford said it was like a large jigsaw puzzle where not all the pieces are present, and genomic sequencing can only give a picture of the cases you know about.