Calls for more testing as thousands of firefighters self-isolate during pandemic

The Fire Brigades Union is calling for the government to roll out testing to allow those who do not have coronavirus to return to work.

Fire crews have taken on extra tasks during the Covid-19 pandemic, including transporting personal protective equipment and testing masks for frontline health workers to ensure they fit properly before use.

FIGURES: Sheffield on brink of 100 deaths as latest figures reveal 9,594 fatalities in England

Firefighters have already agreed to drive ambulances, deliver essential items such as food to vulnerable people and retrieve dead bodies in addition to their core roles.

LATEST: People urged to report Easter caravan users to police and councils

But FBU told the BBC that an eighth of staff in Bedfordshire are off work, while 10 per cent of staff in London are self-isolating.

It added that while there were planned testing programmes in Scotland and Wales, and firefighters in Northern Ireland have already been tested, there was no such system for England.

General secretary Matt Wrack said services would be put on a ‘dangerous knife edge’ if staff were forced to isolate unnecessarily.

Another 500,000 pieces of personal protective equipment arrived at South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue’s training centre on Friday, from the Government's national distribution centre.

It was unpacked by staff and delivered to public sector workers caring for isolated, vulnerable people during the coronavirus outbreak.

Sheffield’s coronavirus death toll now stands at 98 according to NHS England figures released yesterday.

Nationally, 9,594 patients with coronavirus have died in hospitals in England during the outbreak.

In Doncaster 34 patients have died, there have been 24 deaths in Rotherham and 40 in Barnsley.