Chief Minister to meet with Covid Response Team and CoMin tomorrow

The Chief Minister has said there will be meetings with the Covid Response Team and Council of Ministers tomorrow (Sunday) to discuss whether Covid-19 measures need to be altered.

It comes after the UK announced there would be measures surrounding international travel into the UK, mandatory face coverings for public transport and retail settings, and additional measures around close contacts of new cases of the Omicron variant.

Chief Minister Alf Cannan MHK tonight said: “We have always said that we stand ready to act should a new variant of concern emerge.  There is much still unknown about this new variant, but there are concerns on its transmissibility and the additional mutations which may have an impact on the vaccine effectiveness.

“The changes in the UK that require arrivals from anywhere in the world to undergo isolation until they receive a negative PCR result will have an impact here on our Island.  For example, those travelling from outside the Common Travel Area.  I have therefore asked for the National COVID Response Group to meet on Sunday morning and consider the position before recommending any changes to Council of Ministers who will also meet tomorrow.”

He continued: “The overall message however remains that vaccination is important and boosters are extremely important and the UK has also said it will be looking to accelerate its programme.   We too will be considering all these aspects. The changes announced in the UK are precautionary and are hoped to be temporary in nature.”

A further update will be provided tomorrow.