Covid: staff absences impacting Manx Care services

Around 14-15% of staff off work yesterday

One-hundred-and-ninety Manx Care staff were off work yesterday due to issues related to Covid-19.

High levels of absence have been recorded as the Island hits almost 1,900 active cases of the virus.

Manx Care CEO Teresa Cope says it's having an impact on services:

Despite a change to an endemic approach to Covid-19 on the Island from 1 April, Manx Care says it will continue to maintain Covid precautions.

People will be asked to wear face coverings, hand-sanitise, take an LFD before entering healthcare settings, and attend appointments alone where possible.

Healthcare staff will also be asked to regularly test for the virus.

A fine balancing act

Mrs Cope says, whilst it's creating additional pressures on the hospital, keeping the regular-testing policy in place is the right thing to do: