The temporary island-wide speed limit will be raised to 60mph from June 15.

A 40mph limit was introduced from midnight on March 27 to try to reduce pressure on Noble’s Hospital intensive care unit during the Covid health emergency.

At the Covid press briefing yesterday, Chief Minister Howard Quayle said the Council of Ministers has decided the limit can now increase to 60mph.

Mr Quayle insisted he would not use emergency powers to bring in legislation on an all-island speed limit ’through the back door’.

He said he had been ’inundated’ with emails from people who like the 40mph limit. But he said the issue merited a full debate in Tynwald.

Mr Quayle said CoMin had also agreed in principle that returning residents should be allowed to come home via air routes and than they can self-isolate in a shared house so long as the others in that house would be prepared to self-isolate too.

He said this would come in no later than June 11.

Mr Quayle (pictured) said, with no new coronavirus cases since May 20, the number of active cases down to three and no one being treated for the virus in hospital, Ministers were now considering phase 4 of the island’s Covid response.

He said a series of further changes could come in from June 15.

Mr Quayle said he hoped to make an announcement early next week on social distancing including car sharing and on a phased easing of restrictions on large gatherings.

The Chief Minister said he hoped hotels, gyms and indoor sports venues could reopen no later than June 15.

And he said he hoped that pubs and bars could move to more normal operations by the end of June or early July.

This just left the issue of the border reopening. Mr Quayle said: ’We are not there yet and won’t be for some time.’

But he said the issue did not need to be ’binary’, with the border either simply open or closed but he said unhindered travel ’is a long way off’.