More patients with Covid-19 at Blackpool Vic as testing fiasco sees patients call hospital asking for swabs

Dr Jim Gardner, the medical director at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, this afternoon said there are four coronavirus patients in the resort's Victoria Hospital and one in the Clifton Hospital in St Annes.

Last week, there was just one patient in hospital on the Fylde coast with Covid-19.

And Dr Gardner said: "We did see a surge of positive swabs over the weekend and that led us to have to reintroduce our visiting restrictions because of concerns about those numbers rising quickly."

There have been no coronavirus-related deaths reported at the Whinney Heys Road hospital in the past week, he said, with the toll remaining at 245.

"You will know nationally there seems to be a problem about swabbing for coronavirus; there seems to be a shortage of swabbing capacity.

"This seems to link to the increase in incidences with children going back to school, something we have talked about before.

"It's to be expected that coughs and colds and sniffles will increase at this time of year.

"But I have to say the hospital does not have the capacity to swab the general public, and Covid swabs can be accessed by dialling 119 ... or the online system.

"We have facilities within the hospital to manage our own staff, but we do not have facilities ... to swab the general public; that's done in a separate space.

"We have lots of calls to the hospital with patients - with people - asking to come in for a swab and I'm afraid we simply cannot do that."

In Blackpool, there are 31 positive cases for every 100,000 residents, while in Fylde that figure is 37. In Wyre it is 45.

"Those numbers are certainly lower than, for example, Preston, where the number is 121 per 100,000 but they show a progressive increase and we are anxious to try and keep things as low as we possibly can," Dr Gardner said, urging people to social distance at two metres, wear face coverings, and wash hands regularly.