'Now's not the time for the blame game'

A former government minister has appealed for a calm and logical response to the threat of Covid-19 following its latest outbreak.

It was announced on Friday morning a 26th Island resident had lost their life to the virus as cases continue to rise.

Douglas Central MHK Chris Thomas believes the government may have become complacent in its handling of the pandemic.

However, he says it’s important for the whole community to work together and ensure the right policies are in place to tackle the spread.

Chief Minister Howard Quayle has faced criticism from certain quarters over his decision not to enter into a second circuit-breaker lockdown sooner.

Residents were urged to stay at home and businesses asked to close after two unexplained cases emerged on 27 February.

Tough new measures were then introduced four days later on 3 March after many had already returned to the schools and the workplace.

“They should be very, very worried [about the latest outbreak]”, Mr Thomas said.

“It’s not now a question of going back and attributing blame, the time for that will come when we have an inquiry.

“We’re six months away from a general election and that’s the sort of question that will be on people’s minds when they cast their votes.

“But now the important thing is working out the best possible policies to live with the Covid-19 virus threat.”

The Douglas Central MHK was sacked from Mr Quayle’s top team in May last year after voting against the government.

Now on the back benches, Mr Thomas feels co-operating with the government’s response to the pandemic is vital.

He continued: “We do need to learn lessons hugely from what’s happened in the past. We do need to pivot policy, we do need to adjust implementation of that policy and that should be what our focus is on now.

“Perhaps the government got complacent but that’s not for us to determine now.

“What we now need to do is work with government – all of us – to deal with the fear [and] increase the knowledge.”

Mr Thomas also paid his respects to the latest victim of the coronavirus on the Island, offering his “profoundest condolences to everyone involved.”