The Council of Ministers has agreed to allow residents to return to the island and quarantine at home.

Chief Minister Howard Quayle informed Tynwald of the change in policy this afternoon.

Returning residents will have to follow what Mr Quayle called ’stringent conditions’. He told Tynwald members: ’We must get this right.’

Mr Quayle said: ’Officers are working through to this to ensure that the regulations and protocols are robust and, most importantly, meet our test in ensuring that the return of our residents poses no additional risk to our island community.’

So far residents who have returned to the island have had to pay up to £1,000 to stay in quarantine at the Comis Hotel.

Lawrie Hooper (Lib Vannin, Ramsey) said he welcomed the change, calling it a ’very sensible step in the right direction’.

After a question from Jason Moorhouse (Arbory, Castletown and Malew), Mr Quayle said he could not provide a start date for the change.

Mr Quayle did however say that an update is due ’at the end of the week’.

Pushed further by Rob Callister (Onchan), Mr Quayle said that residents who are in the Comis Hotel when the change is introduced, would be able to go to their own home if they are able to prove they can do so safely.

He said that residents would only have to pay for the days they are at the Comis, with money adjusted on a ’pro-rata basis’.

We will have more updates on this story this afternoon.