Island's pandemic command 'untransparent and high-risk', says review

The government's lack of a command structure to deal with the Covid pandemic has been described as "untransparent and high-risk" by an independent review.

Kate Brunner KC has published the report into her inquiry, which runs to almost 3,700 pages.

In it, she says a command structure set up by the Council of Ministers in March 2020 was abandoned as time went on.

Eventually, policy was being set by an unofficial group led by the head of the civil service - which she says excluded some important figures and bypassed the formal command structure.

But she says there's no evidence of decisions being taken for ulterior motives - or flouting lockdown rules as happened in Westminster.

The report is due to be laid before Tynwald in February.