Coronavirus: Care home residents moved for own safety

19 residents at Abbotswood Nursing Home have died due to coronavirus

Residents are being moved from a care home where 19 of the Isle of Man's 23 coronavirus deaths have been recorded.

The Abbotswood Nursing Home, had its licence suspended last month after 47 residents tested positive for the disease.

Health minister David Ashford said the move would "ensure the long term safety and wellbeing of all residents".

He said he understood some may find the move "unsettling" but hoped for as "smooth a transition as possible".

Seventeen residents have died at the facility itself while two died after being admitted to Noble's Hospital.

The health department took over the running of the home, which is privately owned, in April but Mr Ashford said it had "become clear" it was not possible to continue operating at the site in Ballasalla.

Several Abbotswood occupants have already been moved to a specially adapted ward at the hospital and the rest will be transferred next week.

Residents will subsequently be moved to another nursing home of their choice and will "continue to be nursed by staff who are familiar with their needs", a spokesman for the health department said.

There have been a total of 329 positive cases of coronavirus on the Isle of Man.

• EASY STEPS: What should I do?

• CONTAINMENT: What it means to self-isolate

• MAPS AND CHARTS: Visual guide to the outbreak

• VIDEO: The 20-second hand wash