30 March 2021

Free COVID-19 home testing kits

Community Collect is now available from our community testing sites across the Island. Anyone aged 16 and over can collect free COVID-19 home testing kits.

As restrictions ease and we’re out and about more, get tested to keep yourself, your friends, family, colleagues and customers safe. Tests are easy to take and you get the result in 30 minutes.

Pick up your test kits and start testing to help keep the Island safe.

Please keep an eye on our Keep The Island Safe website – it’s where we’ll post the latest information about test sites and kits.

Changes to step 1 of the roadmap

Government guidance has changed.

You can now gather outdoors in groups of six people or two households. The two households can be any size, however, if you are meeting with more than one household, there is a limit of six people.
Outdoor sport and leisure facilities can open.
Organised sport can restart.

Please remember to keep a two-metre distance with anyone outside of your household or support bubble, including those you choose to meet outdoors in the rule of six.

Our actions make a big difference. Get tested regularly, stay local, minimise travel and work from home if you can.

Find more details about the roadmap on the government website.

Respect and protect each other

Planning to head out for food shopping and other essentials? 

Please respect and protect each other. Wear a face covering, shop alone if you can and keep a distance from anyone outside of your household.

Our actions make a big difference. You can find out more about how you can help keep the Island safe on our website.

Latest COVID-19 data for the Island

These are the latest published vaccination and COVID-19 stats for the Isle of Wight, from NHS England and Public Health England, respectively.

Cases are expected to fluctuate as we come out of lockdown and the government’s programme of rapid response testing for people without symptoms is rolled out.

You can read the full report here: https://www.iow.gov.uk/covid19_data

The COVID-19 statistics for the Isle of Wight, published by Public Health England on 29 March 2021 at 8.15pm including data up to 28 March 2021.

The vaccination statistics for the Isle of Wight, published by NHS England on 25 March 2021 including data up to 21 March 2021.

The graphic shows:

• 82,754 – The number of island residents who have received at least one dose of the vaccine
• 6,727 – The number of confirmed cases to date of Island residents who have received a positive COVID-19 test result since March 2020. This is based on the residential address of the person tested rather than where they are registered with a GP.
• 22 – The number of positive cases in the seven-day period.
• 15.5 – Weekly cases per 100,000. This is the number of Island residents who have received a positive COVID-19 test result in the seven-day period, divided by the total population of the Island.

It is vital we all continue to follow the government guidelines as lockdown eases: hands, face, space. 

• Wash your hands often and for at least 20 seconds or use hand sanitiser regularly.
• Wear a face-covering where appropriate.
• Keep space from other people; two metres or at least one metre apart.

Love where you live

While our visitors get to enjoy the Isle of Wight for a few weeks of a year, as residents, Island paradise is quite literally on our doorstep all year round.

As of April 12, heritage sites, zoos, attractions, pub gardens, restaurant terraces, gyms, spas and self-catering properties will all be ready to welcome you back, with the rule of six and COVID safe measures in place to ensure everyone stays happy, healthy and protected.

Local businesses need your local support.

Now is the time to plan for when you can, to consider all the places you’ve said you’d love to go right here on the Island, but never have. Make every weekend on the Isle of Wight a holiday at home.

Go to visitisleofwight.co.uk for what’s on, where to eat and things to do.