Half of A&E consultants at coronavirus-hit hospital are off sick over killer bug
NEARLY half of the senior consultants at one hospital in the north of England are off sick over coronavirus, the Sun Online can reveal.
Five out of the 12 senior A&E consultants are unable to work - either sick or self-isolating over the bug.
And a source revealed the drop meant the hospital was being "overwhelmed" by patients in the fight against coronavirus.
It comes as just 2,000 of 55,000 NHS workers have been tested for the bug, meaning many are stuck in quarantine when they could be given the all clear to return to work.
A source at one hospital in the north of England told The Sun Online: "We desperately need NHS staff to be tested as soon as possible.
"At the moment my hospital is simply being overwhelmed by patients and we just don’t have enough staff to cope.
"Almost half of the emergency department’s most senior staff are off. The worst part though is that three of those don’t even know if they have the virus.
"They are still waiting to be tested. The Government says they are getting a grip on this but this is simply not true."
Boris Johnson admitted testing for NHS workers needed to be urgently ramped up last night as it was revealed 85 per cent could return to work if they knew they weren't carrying the virus.
And while hundreds queued up at a testing centre set up at Ikea in Wembley, key workers were told they could not be tested without emails arranging a time and date.
Hospitals up and down the country have been hit by the bug - with 73 workers at Great Ormond Street alone diagnosed as having the bug, with 318 in total off sick.
Concerns have also been flagged for those NHS workers remaining on the frontline, with fears they have not been given the appropriate protection gear to ensure they are not infected.
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The source added: "Equipment is still a major issue as well. There is a shortage of gowns and gloves.
"Many are using plastic aprons which don’t go all the way over your arms on people who have the virus.
"It is leaving staff as sitting ducks and many are being left infected as a result.
"I know of at least two nurses, both under 40, who are now off sick and very unwell. They had both been complaining about a lack of access to the right equipment.
"They have both been let down terribly.
"If we are going to have any chance of winning this war against the virus we urgently need to be given the tools to do the job. Testing is just so vital right now.
"We will be decimated if things aren’t addressed soon.”
It is leaving staff as sitting ducks
NHS worker
The warnings echoed that of Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, who today claimed more doctors would die if medical staff weren't given enough personal protective equipment.
She said: "When I did my shift on Saturday night... I had paramedics saying they had only been given one set of PPE for an entire 12 hour shift - think of the number of houses they go to in that time."
"We have already lost three doctors and a nurse. There will be many more to come, people in the NHS and care service, they go to work to save lives."
Consultant Amged El-Hawrani, 55, became the first frontline NHS worker to die from coronavirus.
Thomas Harvey, who had dedicated more than 20 years of his life to the NHS, also tragically died.
And Dr Alfa Saadu, who worked for the NHS for nearly 40 years in different hospitals across London, died on Tuesday after fighting the disease for two weeks.
Three other doctors have died after contracting Covid-19 - ear, nose and throat consultant Amged El-Hawrani, 55, Adil El Tayar, 63, an organ transplant specialist and Southend GP Dr Habib Zaidi.
An A&E nurse at Southend Hospital is also in intensive care after testing positive for coronavirus.
DEADLY SPREAD
The Government have blamed the lack of testing on a shortage of testing materials used to properly make up kits.
But today the chief executive of the Health Service Executive, Paul Reid, said officials are "working hard" to resolve the issue.
Across the UK, health today authorities confirmed more than 2,900 patients had died from coronavirus - a spike of more than 500 fatalities.
And earlier this month, Northwick Park Hospital in London declared a "critical incident" as its intensive care unit was filled at 100 per cent.
The Department of Health said that, as of 9am on Thursday, a total of 163,194 people had been tested with 33,718 found to be positive.
Yesterday, 10,657 tests were carried out in England.
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And a leading expert today warned the Government needs to muster its "Dunkirk spirit" to tackle the coronavirus testing crisis.
Sir Paul Nurse, head of the Francis Crick Institute, called on the Prime Minister to let "small ship" labs start screening for Covid-19 - before time runs out.
