A top surgeon is believed to have tested positive for the coronavirus at Aintree Hospital in Liverpool.
Authorities have confirmed that a hospital staff member has been diagnosed with the deadly illness that is sweeping around the world, becoming the fifth person to catch the virus in the city.
The hospital employee was diagnosed on Monday morning after returning from Italy.
Sources have told the Liverpool ECHO the hospital staffer is a surgeon and raised concerns he may have been operating on patients and mixing with staff for as long as a week while having the virus.
Other staff members at Aintree who came into contact with the worker have since been sent home to self-isolate and the hospital is notifying patients and staff members who may have encountered the worker.
The areas where the staff member worked are said to have have been deep cleaned.
The infected staff member is believed to be a male consultant surgeon.
However questions are now being asked about whether he should have returned to work at the hospital after returning from Italy.
Several staff members and relatives of staff members have contacted the ECHO to express concerns about this.
One claimed the consultant continued to operate on patients and mix with colleagues for around a week after returning from Italy and believes he should have been self isolating at the time.
It is not clear if the public health advice at the time would have called for self isolation for someone in his circumstances.
One concerned person said: "The member of staff in question is male, and he is a surgeon, who returned from Italy over a week ago.
"Upon return, he didn't self isolate, and went into work, and proceeded to operate on patients and mix with his colleagues. Four other colleagues who had temperatures were sent home to self isolate, but were not tested."
"Given that this employee has been in that hospital continuing to work for a week, surely the hospital needs to take a more serious approach and strong measures to ensure that the virus is not spread any further?"
Responding to the concerns, a spokesperson for Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “A member of staff has been in self-isolation since being confirmed as positive for COVID-19.
“We have contacted all the patients that are identified as coming into contact with the staff member and are working with Public Health England (PHE) and NHS England to inform and advise those who may have come into contact with this individual.
“Aintree University Hospital remains open and patients should attend their appointments as planned.
"For the majority of people the risk from Covid-19 is low. The NHS has an online service that can tell you if you need medical help, which is available at www.111.nhs.uk/covid-19 or by calling NHS 111."
