Update as of Sunday 6th September
The first new case of Covid-19 in the Isle of Man since May 20: No change in our approach to coronavirus says Chief Minister
A new case of coronavirus has been diagnosed in the Isle of Man.
It is the first new one in 108 days.
Chief Minister Howard Quayle announced the news at a hastily-convened press conference on Sunday morning.
There will be no changes to the advice on social distancing or travelling to and from the island as a result.
Schools will remain open and there is no change on the advice for people going to work.
Personal details of the person affected - even his or her gender - have not been disclosed.
But he or she was self-isolating alone when he or she was tested and was complying with all the restrictions required under the regulations.
The case was identified on Saturday evening. It was not an infection in the community.
The infected individual flew in to the island on a flight on which all the passengers were wearing face masks.
The contact tracing team has taken action and no high risk contacts have been identified.
Health Minister David Ashford said the individual had not had symptoms but was tested as part of a seven-day testing pathway available to certain workers.
There has been no change to the air bridge with Guernsey.
’There will be no change to our approach to coronavirus at this stage,’ Mr Quayle said.
’You are free to continue going about your daily lives as normal and schools will resume on Wednesday.
’The roll-out of optional day seven testing for residents which I announced on Thursday will still go live tomorrow as planned.’
The individual had been self-isolating at home for seven days and had not been outside of his or her home during that time.
They will not continue with self-isolation until medics are confident that they will pose no risk to others.
’It was sadly inevitable that Covid-19 would return to the island at some stage,’ Mr Quayle said.
’We have said so on a number of occasions now so we should not be disheartened by this.
’The robust processes and procedures we have in place have worked precisely as there were designed to do meaning that this single case is contained and the risk to our community is extremely low.’
He added that the contact tracing team would work to ensure that there were no ’loose ends’.
’Knowing what we know at this moment, the situation is as positive as we may have hoped.’
The contact tracing team is identifying anyone who may have been in close contact with the infected individual/
Mr Quayle said:
’Only those with high risk of exposure - that is someone who has been in close proximity to this person for longer than 15 minutes with no PPE - will be asked to self-isolate and even then only as a precaution.’
He added : ’It is by doing the right thing and by following the rules in place that will will protect our community from the impact of a return of the virus.’
Health Minister David Ashford said:
’The system has worked exactly as we’d planned it to.’
He underlined the point that there have been no active community transmission cases in the Isle of Man.
So that meant the Isle of Man was still ’Covid free’ under the internationally-accepted definition.
He pointed to New Zealand as an example.
That country’s approach to coronavirus has been lauded as one of the best in the world.
New Zealand had been quoted as being 102 days Covid-free before community transition resumed.
’During those 102 days the actual case count in New Zealand rose by 75 to 1, 504 to 1,579 as cases were identified as cases were identified from people who had travelled or who were in a quarantine situation and had not gone out into the community.
’But they were still classified as Covid-free.’
He said if we took Covid-free to mean no cases at all, New Zealand was Covid-free for only eight days between June 8 and 16.
’The key point to make is that there is no reason for people to be concerned but people should, as always, remain vigilant,’ he said.
Until today’s announcement, there had been no new positive tests for coronavirus since May 20.
Covid-19 claimed the lives of 24 people since the first case in the island was identified on March 19. Of those 20 were residents of the Abbotswood nursing home in Ballasalla.
On Friday, the latest statistics issued by the government showed that there had been 10,232 tests carried out, with 21 people awaiting results and four awaiting tests.
When most of lockdown and social distancing rules ended on June 15, health chiefs still warned that the island was still vulnerable to a second wave of the virus - and people should not be complacent.
On the day that the Isle of Man marked 100 days without a new case, Health Minister David Ashford said:
’This is a virus, a hidden enemy, which is likely to re-emerge at some point.’
He added his department was prepared for any new cases with the track and trace team and 111 hotline still in place.
He then said: ’The health service has retained its contingency to be able to deal with new cases but the public at large also need to remain vigilant as well.
’It is more important than ever for people to protect their friends, family and community by following the rules in place around self-isolation.’
He said the testing facility has been ramped up so more people can be tested if necessary.
More than 600 residents have returned to the island each week since the government allowed non-essential travel off the island.
Four people have been jailed for failing to self-isolate as required for 14 days on their return.
![[Image: iomtodaynewlogo.jpg]](http://www.ttwebsite.com/gifs/iomtodaynewlogo.jpg)
![[Image: PaperCOVIDreport.jpg]](http://www.ttwebsite.com/gifs/2020/General/PaperCOVIDreport.jpg)