Five people have gone to Great Western Hospital in Swindon feeling unwell and thinking they may have caught the coronavirus.
They were swabbed while in their car, or in an ambulance or, in one case, in the emergency department, and then sent home to await the results of the tests. All five tests came back negative.
The hospital is in almost daily contact with Public Health England and has a well-prepared plan to deal with any further suspected cases.
However the hospital is already very full: “We are using every single space in the hospital.” In recent weeks it has been coping with cases of flu and of norovirus.