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A TOP British surgeon who has tested positive for coronavirus may have infected hundreds of vulnerable patients as he failed to self-isolate after contracting the killer bug on holiday in Italy.
The senior surgeon at Liverpool’s Aintree University Hospital returned from a family skiing trip in northern Italy last week.
The dad, who operates on anyone with a range of conditions from cancer to sinus disease, did not self-isolate and carried on with his work as usual.
He continued to treat scores of patients while carrying the bug.
It comes as a sixth person died in Britain after contracting COVID-19.
The death of the patient – a grandad in his 80s – came as the UK infection rate spiked today to 373.
The doc at Aintree University Hospital arrived back in the UK after a trip with some family members on February 29 and went to work as usual just two days later on March 2.
At the time, government advice allowed those who returned from northern Italy – excluding 11 specific quarantined towns – to carry on as normal if they were not displaying flu-like symptoms.
It is not known whether the doctor had any of the symptoms when he arrived back in the UK.
It is believed he attended a team meeting at the hospital last Wednesday alongside dozens of other surgeons – who all went on to treat patients not knowing they may have come into contact with the killer virus.
He was asked to go home by the hospital later in the day after he started to feel ill and has since tested positive for coronavirus.
Other members of staff are now showing symptoms and being tested for the bug too – with at least two already in self-quarantine.
There are fears he could have infected hundreds as he usually treats up to 400 patients a week.
His wife, who was also believed to have been on the trip, works at the hospital as well.
Symptoms of coronavirus take up to two weeks from contraction to showing and the virus can be passed on without people knowing they have it.
A source said: “He came back and even though everyone knew if they travelled to that part, they should self-isolate, he didn’t and he went back to the hospital on the Monday.
“He’s done surgery on patients and it was only on the Wednesday he started to feel ill.
“It’s very worrying for his patients and also for colleagues who have come into contact with him.
“He has a lot of expertise and is highly regarded and very experienced, so it is surprising he stepped foot in that hospital until he’d spent two weeks in self-quarantine.”
The doctor also works at another hospital, where an initial consultation with him costs £175.
A Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust spokesman said: “We can confirm that a member of staff based at Aintree University Hospital has tested positive for COVID-19 after recently returning from a holiday in Italy.
“The safety of our patients and staff is our top priority and we are working with Public Health England and NHS England to inform and advise everyone who may have come into contact with this individual.
“We have reiterated to our staff the protocols for controlling infection, which include checking for the latest updates on affected areas designated by the government and informing their manager if they have recently travelled to any of them.
“Aintree University Hospital remains open and patients should attend their appointments as planned unless they are unwell.
Courtesy of thesun.co.uk
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