Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on a Small Island: The Isle of Man Case Study

ABSTRACT

The Isle of Man is a semi-autonomous small island in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland. It has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and over the past year, the government has undergone reactive and proactive strategies with the aim of curtailing territorial disease spread. Using government tracking data gathered since March 2020, data analysis shows that island had a slow but steady spread of COVID-19 beginning with an island resident who returned from a trip abroad. Over twelve months, the island has had three infection peaks which saw quick policy reactions with Circuit Breaker lockdowns including strict guidelines of isolation combined with economic support for individuals and business. The island is small and has to receive daily supplies of food, fuel and other goods via ferry from England. Close monitoring of the infection rate has enabled quick reflexive policy actions. The disease has not been eradicated, but each lockdown has resulted in a slowdown of disease progression. A relatively small percentage of individuals have been infected and even smaller percentage have lost their lives. The smallness of the island, circuit breaker lockdowns and the island residents' stoic culture have helped with the control of disease progression. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.