Military personnel test NHS staff for coronavirus at Chessington, Brighton and Lincoln but huge testing centre in Edinburgh looks empty amid fears frontline workers will run out of PPE this weekend
- NHS staff are being tested for Covid-19 at Chessington, Brighton, and Lincoln
- Dozens of vehicles were seen queueing in Resort park today as members of the Armed Forces helped medical workers swab samples from NHS staff
- Testing is at the AMEX Stadium, Brighton and Bracebridge Heath, Lincoln
- Learn more about how to help people impacted by COVID
Coronavirus testing is underway at makeshift facilities in Chessington, Brighton, and Lincoln as NHS staff are swabbed by medical workers and the military.
Dozens of vehicles were seen queueing at a test centre in the car park of the Chessington World of Adventures in Greater London today.
Frontline medical workers and members of the Armed Forces wore protective face masks, gloves, and aprons as they administered tests.
NHS staff are also being tested for Covid-19 at the AMEX Stadium in Brighton and in Bracebridge Heath, Lincoln today as the pandemic rages on.
The coronavirus death toll soared to 14,576 yesterday.
A member of the Armed Forces tests an NHS worker for the novel coronavirus at a testing facility at the Chessington World of Adventures Resort (April 18, 2020)
Staff and members of the Armed Forces prepare for the opening of a new testing facility for NHS workers at the AMEX Stadium in Brighton (April 18, 2020)
NHS staff carry out Coronavirus tests at a testing facility in Bracebridge Heath, Lincoln as the coronavirus pandemic continues to afflict the UK (April 18, 2020)
Meanwhile a coronavirus testing facility at Edinburgh Airport appears empty (April 16, 2020)
It comes after furious NHS staff were told to re-use personal protective equipment and wear aprons amid a lack of supplies in hospitals.
The BMA labelled the situation a ‘sorry state of affairs’ with doctors feeling unprotected at work despite the UK being two months into the crisis.
Frontline medics fear some NHS trusts could run out of gowns and coveralls this weekend with stocks now ‘exhausted’, with the anger coming amid fears they might have to treat virus patients with only plastic aprons for protection.
New guidance was issued this week amid reports at least 60 NHS trusts were expecting to exhaust their stocks of gowns. This includes all hospitals in London, which reportedly need tens of thousands of gowns delivered urgently.
People are seen queuing in their cars outside a coronavirus test centre in the car park of Chessington World of Adventures amid the coronavirus pandemic (April 18, 2020)
A person is tested at a coronavirus test centre in the car park of Chessington World of Adventures as the spread of Covid-19 continues (April 18, 2020)
Meanwhile a coronavirus testing facility at Edinburgh Airport appears empty (April 16, 2020)
The guidance from Public Health England sets out what front-line staff should do where there are no gowns left. Options include borrowing from other hospitals with supplies, wearing coveralls or using the flimsy plastic aprons.
It is a significant U-turn from previous PHE guidance, which required full-length waterproof surgical gowns for all high-risk hospital procedures.
The move will prompt fears more doctors and nurses will become infected due to a lack of PPE, with one leading health figure saying the situation is worrying.
A BMA survey of more than 6,000 doctors across the country said a significant amount of them remain without the protection they need to guard against Covid-19.
Another poll by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) found half of nurses have felt pressure to work without appropriate protective equipment during the crisis.
BMA council chairman Dr Chaand Nagpaul said: ‘We shouldn’t still be hearing that doctors feel unprotected when they go to work.’
People are seen queuing in their cars outside a coronavirus test centre in the car park of Chessington World of Adventures amid the coronavirus pandemic (April 18, 2020)
Meanwhile a coronavirus testing facility at Edinburgh Airport appears empty (April 16, 2020)
A person is seen queuing in their car at a coronavirus test centre in the car park of Chessington World of Adventures amid the coronavirus pandemic (April 18, 2020)
