THOUSANDS of working days were lost at Herefordshire's hospitals because of coronavirus during the first few months of the pandemic.

NHS Digital data shows 4,260 working days were lost due to Covid-19 absence at Wye Valley NHS Trust between March and May, meaning the virus was responsible for 25 percent of the 16,846 total days lost due to sickness over the three months.

Most Covid-related absences were reported during the peak of the first wave in April, when 2,022 days were lost.

The figures include staff who contracted the virus, as well as those who had to quarantine because a family member showed symptoms, because of travel restrictions, or because they had been advised to by contact tracers.

They do not show how many NHS staff were affected.

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The NHS has urged caution over the figures, as trusts were not required to use the new coronavirus absence code or instructed on how to use it when it was introduced in March.

Across England, more than 1.3 million days of work were lost in the NHS due to coronavirus-related sickness between March and May.

Miriam Deakin, director of policy and strategy at NHS Providers, said it was not clear how many of the absences were avoidable.

She said: “These figures show how the real impact of Covid-19 on NHS staff absences continued into the summer even as the initial surge in cases abated.

"Nearly one in five days lost due to absence during May were Covid-related.

"Providing a safe environment for staff and patients is an absolute priority for trusts which is why capacity for regular testing is so important."

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The Royal College of Nursing's England director, Mike Adams, said some staff members are still reporting having to drive long distances for tests and delays in getting results.

"When wards and clinics are crying out for nursing staff, they can ill-afford to lose more staff. They must follow the self-isolation guidelines but only rapid and priority testing will get them back to work," he added.

Anxiety, stress, depression or other psychiatric illness was the most reported reason for sickness absence in May, accounting for 28 percent of all days lost that month.