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A roundup of the week's developments

Image credit: Charles Guard, Culture Vannin and DESC

The week's coronavirus events broken down day-by-day

After seven days during which the Island entered lockdown, all schools and childcare providers went from fully open to fully closed and 274 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed, take a look back at how the week developed.

Monday 1 March

  • Business as usual. After the previous Saturday's precautionary 'stay at home' message, testing on Sunday all returned negative results.
  • All schools were open and there were no domestic restrictions.
  • The advice from the Chief Minister was to be vigilant and continue practising good hygiene.
  • At 4pm, two new cases were confirmed. One of these cases was of unknown origin.
  • People who'd been at Close Leece Farm Cafe, La Mona Lisa Restaurant and Tesco at specific times were asked to be vigilant for Covid and self-isolate and call 111 if they developed symptoms.
  • Late in the evening it transpired that further unexplained cases had been found, including in a student at St Ninian's High School.
  • Government said the Chief Minister would announce a range of new measures in the morning.

Tuesday 2 March

  • All schools remained open but attendance was not compulsory.
  • The Chief Minister announced that a circuit break lockdown would be introduced from 00:01 on Wednesday.
  • The House of Keys and Legislative Council met virtually for their sittings.
  • At 4pm, eight new cases were confirmed of which: three were unexplained; one was an isolated traveller and four were close contacts of an existing cluster.

Wednesday 3 March

  • The Island's third lockdown began.
  • The construction industry would be allowed to continue operating.
  • Schools would remain open for vulnerable children and those whose parents are key workers.
  • Families of students in year seven at St Ninian's and QEII High Schools and years three and four at Ballasalla Primary School were asked to self-isolate immediately.
  • At 4pm, 17 new cases were confirmed.
  • The Director of Public Health said the Island was experiencing widespread community transmission of the virus.
  • Anyone who'd been at an event at the Hydro Hotel on Friday 26 February was asked to self-isolate.

Thursday 4 March

Friday 5 March

Saturday 6 March

Sunday 7 March

  • An announcement from Government confirmed schools would remain closed on Monday 8 March.
  • The figures, published at 6pm, confirmed 81 new cases of the virus had been identified in 24 hours.
  • The Chief Minister said this was not the peak, and the impact of lockdown should start to be seen in the coming days.

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