A series of further emergency Covid powers have come into operation including a move to circumvent GDPR data protection rules.

The new regulations have been made law by the order of the Governor in Council and follow the state of emergency first declared by Lieutenant Governor Sir Richard Gozney on March 16.

They were approved by Tynwald at an emergency sitting yesterday (Tuesday).

One of them revokes a travel ban on public sector employees, a measure that only came into force on April 3 and would have seen government workers facing a three-month jail term or a big fine if they left the island without permission.

EU General Data Protection Regulation rules on controlling and processing personal data came into force in May 2018.

Although the island has never been a member of the EU, any organisation here that carries out business with Europe must comply with GDPR or face hefty fines.

But an emergency powers regulation, signed last Thursday, will allow government departments to share information with another department or specified person without committing an offence under GDPR.

The order states its purpose is to secure the ’essentials of life to the community of the island and for the protection of the economy’.

It also recognises the potential need for one government department to perform functions ordinarily performed by another during the current crisis.

The Governor in Council has also given an order under the Emergency Powers Act that allows an individual to be removed from a hospital bed or ward if it is needed for some other patient.

They can be vacated from a Department of Health and Social Care facility if, on the advice of those concerned in their care or treatment, it is deemed no longer necessary for them to remain and this can be done without undue risk of harm to their health and wellbeing.

If they are not moved to another DHSC setting, an appropriate care package must be put in place.

The patient or their family member can be fined up to £10,000 if they refuse to vacant the facility or ’in any way obstructs’ the removal.

A police officer can be called on to help in the removal and may use reasonable force.

Another emergency power provides for exemptions to the ban on all arrivals entering the island to allow for the controlled repatriation of the several hundred island residents left stranded when the border closed.

The first Manx residents able to travel back to the island on designated sailings of the Manannan from Heysham were due to arrive this afternoon - and will be subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine.

A provision that residents staying at homes in the UK owned by close family members would not be able to apply to return during the lockdown was dropped following 'reconsideration' by Ministers.

Another emergency power sees the Road Transport Licensing Committee temporarily suspended and its functions taken over by the Department of the Environment, Food and Agriculture.