There are ’too many uncertainties’ to introduce routine screening for asymptomatic health and care workers at present, the government says.

Although routine testing on healthcare workers has been considered, the Department of Health and Social Care is not carrying this out due to ’insufficient evidence’ to support its introduction.

It is, however, reviewing this while ’waiting for a validated antibody test’.

The issue was brought up on the Facebook page ’Noble’s Hospital Isle of Man Exposed’.

The author said all hospital workers should be tested.

This followed their request for one after three colleagues were tested positive for Covid-19 being refused.

They wrote: ’I work at Noble’s and three, yes three, of my colleagues have just tested positive this week for Covid.

’I worked closely with one of them. Myself and other members of the team have asked to be tested and we have been refused a test, as we are not showing symptoms. We feel that as we are working in the hospital that we should all be tested regularly.

’I may not be showing symptoms but I could be asymptomatic and therefore be a carrier of this horrible virus, infecting patients, public and family.’

Health Minister David Ashford told the Examiner that the post has inaccuracies, while adding that they are at ’low risk’ of contracting Covid-19 from colleagues wearing personal protection equipment (PPE).

He said that the person couldn’t have worked with all three workers, as only two are from the same area.

’After contract tracing the first thing to say is there is no direct link between their work and contracting the virus,’ he said.

’Secondly, their jobs entail them wearing full personal protection equipment when working.

’Medical grade PPE protects not just the wearer, but also those around them so anyone working with them would also have been in full PPE kit.’

He added that full contact tracing had been carried out on the individuals with people isolating where appropriate.

’There again seems to be a misunderstanding about the purpose of testing,’ he said.

’A negative test does not mean you do not have Covid-19.

’If you are in the early asymptomatic stages of Covid-19 then it is quite possible for a test to return a negative result.’

He said the main benefit of testing those who are displaying symptoms - such as a fever and dry cough where it is later in the virus cycle - is so that those in close contact can be self-isolated to break the chain of spreading the virus.

The department’s policy on testing for coronavirus was updated at the end of April and shared with the public.

The issue of routine testing/screening of asymptomatic healthcare and key workers was considered by the Covid-19 Testing and Surveillance Strategy Working Group under proposals for enhanced testing.

However, the group concluded that there is ’insufficient evidence and too many uncertainties to recommend the introduction of routine screening for asymptomatic health and care workers at present’, a department spokesman said.

’The position is being kept under review and will be revisited as outcomes from screening pilots elsewhere become available,’ the spokesman added.

’A key question is around the appropriate intervals for repeat testing and the frequency of potential "interval" cases - University College London is one of the key institutions conducting research into this area and was mentioned by Dr Rizwan Khan when he addressed the media briefing on April 29 and 30.’