One in three NHS staff test positive for coronavirus

A total of 34 per cent of medical workers have tested positive for Covid-19

A third of NHS and key frontline workers have tested positive for coronavirus, official figures reveal.

Testing has been carried out on 16,888 ‘key workers and their households’ and of those, 5,733 (34 per cent) were confirmed to have the virus, according to data released on Monday.

So far, at least 35 NHS staff members have lost their lives after catching Covid-19.

Meanwhile, the spread of the virus among general NHS patients is roughly one in five – about 23 per cent, the data also showed.

Testing for frontline workers – which has been reserved for those showing symptoms, or those who have lived with someone displaying them – was only made available on March 25.

At that stage, there were 10,000 confirmed cases among the general population, while Public Health England had already been swabbing people travelling back from high-risk countries for two months.

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NHS workers who do not meet the criteria are not eligible for one of the 2,500 tests being carried out daily on medical staff and their families. This means the results may not be fully representative but highlight the dangers many are facing.

The figures come amid mounting pressure on the Government to better protect frontline medical workers, after reports emerged that the UK missed three major opportunities to join the EU’s £1 billion bulk purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks, gloves and gowns.

It means staff across the country will miss out on a share of £1.3 billion worth of PPE equipment being delivered in the next few days.

Elsewhere, a nurse spoke of being asked to use ‘one face mask per shift’ – which protects against coronavirus for about four hours – in order to preserve supplies.

Medical unions have also issued warnings over a shortage of protective gowns as stocks reach critically low levels.

The Royal College of Nursing yesterday issued guidance to staff saying they were entitled to refuse to work, adding: ‘If the employer does not provide appropriate PPE and a safe working environment, as an employee you can refuse to care for a patient.’

The union’s chief executive Donna Kinnair, told the BBC nurses did not have adequate protection.

Despite Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s saying the government’s goal was to examine all NHS workers regardless of symptoms, testing still remains lower than many European countries. 

Today a further 778 people died after contracting coronavirus, taking the UK death toll to 12,107, according to official Department of Health numbers.

The Office for National Statistics said that figure could be 15 per cent higher once deaths in the community, such as at nursing homes, were accounted.

Speaking at the daily Downing Street conference yesterday, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, said: ‘We understand the importance of getting PPE to the frontline whether it’s in care homes or the NHS. 

‘I think the strongest practical reassurance they will want and that we can give them is that over the Bank Holiday weekend over 16million items were delivered and we are straining every sinew to roll them out even further and even faster.’

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