A former high school head teacher says she is ’frustrated beyond belief’ by the government’s apparent lack of urgency in finding a way to reopen our borders.

The Council of Ministers met with other Tynwald members this week to discuss the island’s longer-term Covid exit strategy.

But Annette Baker, who retired in December as head of Ramsey Grammar School, believes the government remains too focused on a policy of eliminating Covid from the island.

Mrs Baker believes instead that we should be following UK’s plans for a traffic light system for allowing visitors to the island.

In an email to Chief Minister Howard Quayle she wrote: ’It has now been over 12 months since two of my Manx-born and educated sons, my Manx-educated step daughter and their families have been allowed to come home to visit their families on this island.

’I am frustrated beyond belief by the apparent lack of urgency behind finding a proactive way of managing our borders and allowing us in the first instance to have family visits but also to travel more freely at least between here and the UK.’

She said there was growing support in the island for following the UK’s plans for managing the borders, involving a traffic light system of country categorisation, with appropriate requirements, including testing, for travellers.

Mrs Baker said that with the success of the vaccine rollout both in the UK and here, and the drop in case numbers in the UK in particular, the time was right to do this.

She called for it to be given the urgent attention of Ministers, not least so families can at last be reunited.

In a second email, she said those subjected to enforced separation from close family members as a result of the border restrictions have arguably received the least attention from government.

She said Mr Quayle’s talk of restoring the Guernsey air bridge had reinforced her concerns that government was still focused on a zero Covid policy.

Mrs Baker said she had yet to receive a response from the Chief Minister.

Mr Quayle told a Covid briefing this week he hopes the island will move to border level 3a by the end of the month. This will allow visits by friends and family from across but they will be have to comply with 21 days’ quarantine on arrival, or 14 days if they agree to day one, six and 13 testing.

Mrs Baker said a ’worrying by-product’ of the pandemic had been the vitriolic response on social media from those opposed to any relaxation of border controls.