Covid-19 emergency health orders were yesterday extended until the end of March.

Kim Wilson, the Minister of Health, said that the extension, approved by the House of Assembly, was required because the current order would expire at the end of the month.

She told MPs: “We live on a very small island and, as you know from previous outbreaks, the coronavirus that causes the disease Covid-19 spreads quickly and negatively impacts the whole community.

“As stated, success in dealing with Covid-19 requires a community effort. In this pandemic, individual decisions can and do have island-wide consequences.”

The present health emergency order is scheduled to expire on February 27. Safety measures include mandatory wearing of masks in certain places, limits to the size of gatherings and certain testing requirements.

Ms Wilson said that the effectiveness of coronavirus vaccines remained high — but that the island must not drop its guard.

She added: “We must all learn to live with Covid because it will be with us for a long time.”

Michael Dunkley, the shadow health minister, said that Ms Wilson’s warnings had been repeated “over and over again”.

But he added: “I fully support the repetition — it has been quite clear that some of our challenges are as a result of people not paying attention.

Mr Dunkley, however, said that people were fed up with repeated extensions to safety regulations.

He added: “Here we are with 23 months of emergency extensions. Many people are tired and worn out and have serious challenges because of the restrictions. People are looking for a fresh perspective.

“I think people’s spirits were lifted and people were buoyed by the opportunity to come out of the bubble and get back to doing some of the things that they enjoyed.

“Learning to live with Covid was a breath of fresh air, so it’s disappointing for people that this order is going to be extended.”

Craig Cannonier, the shadow works and engineering minister, said that MPs were all “on the same page” but appealed to the Government to do more to encourage people to get back to their workplaces.

He said: We have gotten so used to being at home. We need to get people out of their pyjamas and back into their suits.“

Scott Pearman, the OBA spokesman on legal affairs, questioned why the controversial travel authorisation form had not been scrapped.

He asked: “When are we going to get rid of it? It does seem like an unnecessary encumbrance. We need to do more to encourage people to come to our island. It creates a barrier to travel and is something that is no longer necessary.

“I appreciate that the minister has a balancing exercise to do, but at same time, this Government has said we have to learn to live with Covid, so what does that timeline look like?”

Ms Wilson told him that the travel authorisation scheme would remain in force until April 2023.

Anthony Richardson, a Progressive Labour Party backbencher, defended the restrictions.

He said: “We may individually disagree with some of the decision being made by the Government but if we take more time to listen and understand the risks to the health system and risks to the hospital, the decisions being made are reasonable.

Ianthia Simmons-Wade, another PLP backbencher, added: “The reality is we have all been affected by Covid and the decisions that have been made by the Government have been successful.

“Even if we decide to relax regulations, I just hope that everyone makes decision to protect not only themselves, but those around them.”