IOM slow to react to virus 'tsunami"

No strategy, limited PPE, no on-island testing, no effective public information and a refusal to test symptomatic patients in Noble Hospital.

Recently published evidence paints a chaotic picture of the Isle of Man in February 2020, as it braced itself for a coronavirus "tsunami".

The information was provided by Dr Rosalind Ranson, the Medical Director of the Department of Health and Social Care and has raised serious questions about the government's decision-making process at a pivotal time in the pandemic. 

It revealed that in February 2020 a senior medic raised the alarm about border restrictions due to people arriving from Italy- a virus hotspot at the time. 

Dr Ranson, a clinician of more than 25 years, recommended imposing border restrictions in February but no action was taken until March.

She explained to the committee that on February 8, she became aware there was "no obvious signage, announcements and no effective public information on what someone should do if they became unwell and had recently travelled from a high-risk area of the world".

She emailed the Director of Public Health, Dr Henrietta Ewart to raise these issues but didn't get a response.

Dr Ranson requested a daily virus update so she could monitor the developing situation but those updates never happened.

She said that, because the island was following Public Health England (PHE) guidelines, some patients at Noble's hospital were not tested for the virus despite being symptomatic.

Dr Ranson added that the policy to follow PHE guidance was "causing some unease for Manx clinicians but it was hard to question as the director refused to engage in any debate". 

A claim that was backed up in an email from Dr Ewart on 9 February which talked about "inappropriate behaviours developing".

"It is not appropriate for staff to be requesting or putting pressure on colleagues to test for coronavirus when the patient does not meet the current criteria."

You can read the full report here.