Good afternoon everyone.
The Chief Minister is attending to other duties this afternoon but I am joined by our Director of Public Health Dr Henrietta Ewart.
I’ll begin with going over the latest COVID figures.
To date we’ve undertaken 31,799 tests with 31,792 concluded. There are 7 people awaiting results, the total number of active cases is 27 and our total number of cases to date is 462.
In the past 24 hours six people have tested positive for COVID-19 taking the total number of active cases to 27.
I’ll handover to the Director of Public Health to say a little more on these new cases and how they link to the existing cluster.
Thank you Dr Ewart, for that detailed update.
Our test and trace approach means that every case in this outbreak has a clear and identifiable chain of transmission, meaning our outbreak consists of a single cluster. This is comparable to the cluster people will remember in December.
Last week we issued a list of locations where these was a low risk that people who were at these venues at specific times could contract COVID-19. Java Express Coffee Shop & Noddle Bar was one of these venues.
As you’ll be aware, at the weekend, someone who had been at Java on the date and time we announced contacted 111 with COVID symptoms. They were immediately instructed to self-isolate along with other members of their household, and offered a test.
That test came back positive late on Sunday. This meant that we needed to reassess this location’s level of risk. A decision was taken – as a precaution – to ask anyone who had been at Java at this time to self-isolate, contact 111 for advice and to arrange a test. This surveillance testing allows us to quickly determine if there is a broader issue within a premises that needs to be acted upon.
As is so often the case on our Island, word travelled quickly, and when the 111 line opened at 8am on Monday we saw a surge in calls. In total 136 people who were at Java at the time and date of interest have contacted 111. All have been offered tests. 124 of those tests have come back negative, with a handful of results awaited. This shows encouraging signs that wider spread looks like it has been contained.
I would like to commend the individual, who came forward at the weekend, for their vigilance. This is precisely why we publicise low risk locations. I would also commend those customers and staff from Java who have contacted the 111 service since yesterday morning.
As you have heard in so many of these briefings, our response to the threat posed by COVID-19 is about balancing risk.
'Low risk' should not be mistaken for 'no risk'. Our approach is about balancing the level of risk to the public and their health against other considerations such as the economic and social impact of how we respond when people have been at a low risk location. It is not always easy. It is a case of shades of grey as opposed to black and white.
At the moment, our approach of focussing on testing, tracing and isolating has proven effective. 25 cases have been identified and contained with – as yet – no unexplained community cases. We can take comfort in this but we cannot let down our guard. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and adjust our response if necessary.
Turning now to our vaccination programme.
We have now administered more than 18,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine. This is broken down to more than 13,000 first doses and more than 5,000 second doses. We have now given a first dose to almost one third of our most vulnerable people.
As I said last week, we have been reviewing the emerging evidence around COVID-19 vaccinations.
The latest evidence arising from deployment of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine in the UK has confirmed that the interval between the two doses may be extended beyond the original specification of 28 days, and that the vaccine has an average 76% effectiveness against symptomatic coronavirus infection for three months after the first dose. It has also been shown that extending the time period for the second dose does not affect the efficacy of the first which was an initial concern not that long ago.
After extensive review of the evidence by senior clinicians in the Department of Health and Social Care, the strategy to extend the gap between the two doses of the Oxford vaccine is now being adopted here in the Isle of Man.
The decision means more people will be vaccinated with one dose at an earlier stage than originally planned. Our team is now working hard to re-draw our vaccination schedule.
The new dose intervals for Oxford / AstraZeneca will come into effect for all who have registered with 111 following their invitation letter and those who will be invited in the future. The change won’t affect people who already have an appointment from 111 for their second dose of the Oxford vaccine, which will go ahead as planned.
Modelling of the rollout in line with expected delivery schedules of the vaccine and the updated second dose time frames will vary delivery of first and second doses by a few weeks but will not change the overall programme. Delivery of vaccines to the Island remains the biggest variable in our mass vaccination programme.
The dose interval for the Pfizer vaccine remains 21 days but this is subject to ongoing review in line with emerging evidence.
Another component of our vaccination programme, which I announced last week, is the decision to make vaccinations available to those who crew the Island’s vital air and sea transport providers. This will protect crew members from serious illness should they pick up the virus, helping to safeguard our critical transport links.
We have always said that our borders are our key defence against the virus, and this new chapter in our vaccination programme will also reduce – although not eliminate – the risk of the virus being inadvertently imported to the Island.
We are arranging vaccination sessions for crew members of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company this week, with the first session tomorrow. Crew members will wear PPE while attending for their jab, as will the vaccinators. The hub will be deep-cleaned both after the session and in the morning before the hub opens the following day and the premises checked by the Infection Prevention and Control Team.
Vaccinations will also be offered to crew at the Ramsey-based sea carrier Mezeron as well as Island-based crew at flight operator Loganair and IAS Medical, which provides the Island’s air ambulance service. These groups will be booked in for vaccinations over the next few weeks.
My thanks to our vaccination team and to our transport providers for making this possible and working together to protect these essential workers and reduce the risk to our community.
Finally, before turning to questions from the media, I would like to talk about ongoing work on a framework for the Isle of Man to exit from COVID-19 restrictions at the border.
Work on this has been ongoing for some time and we are now in the final stages of preparations. We are taking on board input from Members of Tynwald ahead of releasing the first draft later this month. This is the beginning of an important stage in our journey through this pandemic and the Council of Ministers looks forward to sharing the plan in due course.
This framework can only be a guide given that there remains so many unknowns. But the path to take us to normality is clearer now than it has been since the pandemic started and time will give more certainty on what measures can be loosened and when, whilst continuing to keep our community safe.
And now to questions from the media.
Thank you for those questions.
That’s all for today. We will continue to keep you up to date with any developments through social media, news release and, when necessary, with briefings.
Have a pleasant evening.
