'Mistakes were made' over Steam Packet Covid outbreak - Gov't

The Chief Minister admits 'we didn't get everything right' and 'mistakes were made' over the cluster of Covid-19 cases among Steam Packet staff back in February.

An independent report looking into the circumstances has been published today, and concluded the company is a critical 'Covid risk point' for the Island and the safe continuity of its services should be a priority for all parties involved.

It also concluded there had been no outbreaks of the virus amongst Manx-based crew before the cluster from February this year was discovered.

Eight recommendations have been made to improve the system going forward, which include regular meetings between different agencies to assist the ongoing review of Covid arrangements with the Steam Packet.

Another is creating a bespoke 'Standard Operating Procedure' to manage potential future outbreaks, which could involve full testing of all crew following a positive case and removal of on-Island self-isolation exemptions for all crew on notification of first positive case.

Independent inspector, Stephen Hind, also stated the management of risk has already been 'significantly improved' since the time of the outbreak.

Howard Quayle MHK says: "‘We didn’t get everything right, and the report tell us that. We weren’t always as joined-up as we should have been and perhaps inevitably, mistakes were made. 

"However, I am heartened to see that a number of the recommendations for improvement made in the report are already in place. I will ensure that we see through any actions required by government.

"I have therefore referred the report to the Isle of Man Ship Registry, to consider whether further investigation is required and if necessary, to refer matters to other agencies.

"We will learn from this episode and continue to do our utmost to protect our community."

You can read the full report via the link here.