Coronavirus crazy week but just two confirmed cases in Milton Keynes

In both cases, the patients visited A&E initially and both were admitted to hospital wards before it was realised they had the virus .

This sparked fears that fellow patients, visitors and staff could have been unwittingly infected.

But initial tests on five patients in the same bay as the first patient, an 83-year-old gentleman on Ward 1, have come up negative, the Citizen can reveal.

Ten members of hospital staff, currently in self-isolation because they nursed the man, are also showing negative, as are the family members who visited him on the ward.

Sadly the gentleman, who had just returned from a Caribbean cruise, died on Thursday last week. See story here.

Despite national publicity citing him as the second person in the UK to die from coronavirus, his underlying health conditions mean Covid-19 will not necessarily be the official cause of death.

The family described him as a "truly loving and wonderful person" and, in a statement released over the weekend, said: "This whole nightmare is not something that we or our loved one asked for. As we are in isolation currently, we cannot arrange for him to be put to rest and with all the activity that is going around with regards to everyone’s concerns, we cannot grieve him as we would wish to.”

By the time the statement came, however, there was a second case of coronavirus at the hospital waiting to be confirmed, See story here.

The patient, who had recently returned from abroad - this time a trip to Majorca - was on a ward before swabs for coronavirus were taken as a precaution. It was not until shortly after he or she was discharged on Friday that the hospital learned the test had come out positive.

The patient is currently in self-isolation at home. Because they are younger and have no other health problems, they do not need hospital care.

The hospital later stated it did everything right in both cases and had carefully followed NHS guidelines about who should be swabbed for coronavirus. See story here.

These guidelines feature along list of countries considered to be at risk - but neither Majorca or the Carribean feature on that list.

"The problem is that the trust is relying on NHS guidelines about the countries people have travelled to - and that's why neither patients was flagged initially," said a hospital source.

Meanwhile there was more drama a few miles away at Hilltops Medical Centre on Great Holm. The surgery suddenly closed on Monday for an extensive deep clean after discovering a coronavirus patient had visited there - twice. See story here.

A notice on the door stated: ''The surgery has had a confirmed case of coronavirus. We will be shut until further notice.'

The infected patient visited the surgery on two occasions, March 2 and March 3. But this does not necessarily mean there is a third case of coronavirus in Milton Keynes, said a medical source.

"The fact that the surgery closed when it did was probably due to a contact-tracing exercise - in that it was identified as somewhere a patient visited before they tested positive. The likely scenario is that one of the two known coronavirus cases in MK went to their doctor because they felt unwell and then they ended up in hospital because they took a turn for the worse," he said.

"Either way, the surgery has done exactly the right thing in giving the place a thorough deep clean."

Public Health guidelines urge people not to visit their GP if they are displaying any coronavirus symptoms. Instead they should call 111 or follow advice on the official NHS site online. This week many MK surgeries are cancelling online appointments asking patients to accept phone consultations with doctors instead.

By Monday, half the population of MK was denying the virus was a problem and hitting out at the media for "scaremongering" for even reporting on coronavirus incidents. The other half was panicking and clearing supermarket shelves to stockpile everything they would need to go into self-isolation.

Hand sanitisers became like gold dust and were changing hands at exorbitant prices on eBay, while stores were empty of toilet rolls, soaps, cold medications, pasta, tinned food and anti bacterial products. See story here.

Milton Keynes council leader Pete Marland put out a plea for people to stay calm and only buy what they needed.

He said: "I understand that people are concerned, It is human natures to want to plan ahead. however the best advice to stay safe and healthy is to follow official help and advice... It doesn't help to panic buy."

He is also concerned the shortages of many items could affect vulnerable people or people receiving social care who are reliant upon one local shop and cannot travel around looking for low stock products.

"We are ensuring we are prepared for a number of scenarios as the situation unfolds, particularly the continuation of social care services to the most vulnerable.. it does help to remember that the overall risk to life remains very low. The greater risk to the system would be we have to spend time dealing with the 'worried well'. People need to be sensible," he said.

Milton Keynes hospital bosses are similarly urging people to be sensible and keep their routine appointments.

A spokesman said: "We receiving lots of enquiries about hospital appointments. Hospital services are unaffected and running as normal. All scheduled appointments will continue as normal, unless patients have been individually contacted and told otherwise."

To gear up for a spike in cases, the hospital has two mobile coronavirus testing “pods” that will be used for people with an appointment only. Sited outside the building, they will allow swabs to be taken by staff wearing blue full body protective clothes, including full face masks. See story here.

The hospital’s deputy chief executive John Blakesley said: “We probably will get more and more people coming forward for testing.

He added: "I’m hoping not to have the unit in front of accident and emergency."

The symptoms of coronavirus are a cough, a high temperature and/or shortness of breath.

"But these symptoms do not necessarily mean you have the illness. The symptoms are similar to other illnesses that are much more common, such as cold and flu," stressed the hospital spokesman.

He added: "Please be advised, if you are experiencing symptoms that are similar to those of the coronavirus you should not attend the hospital. Call NHS 111 or visit https://111.nhs.uk/service/covid-19 for advice."