Fertility services partially resume on Isle of Man

Fertility treatments were postponed during the coronavirus outbreak

Some fertility services have resumed on the Isle of Man after being shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic.

All treatments were stopped in March while staff were redeployed to deal with the Covid-19 outbreak.

Consultation clinics have now restarted and other services are due to resume by the end of the month.

Health Minister David Ashford warned some patients faced delays but promised "time critical" cases would be prioritised.

"There are couples who have waited for a long time but I do ask them to bear with us," Mr Ashford added.

Couples undertaking in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment can now travel to the UK for certain procedures following changes to the border restrictions on 20 June.

Some procedures, such as the collecting of eggs, fertilisation and embryo replacement, are not available on the Isle of Man.

Under previous Covid-19 restrictions, IVF patients could not leave the Isle of Man since it was not deemed to be essential travel.

Anyone travelling off the Isle of Man for treatment will still be required to self-isolate for 14 days upon their return.