Do we need to wear face masks?

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But experts warn there is “very little evidence” of the benefits of wearing face masks outside a clinical setting, and say that people concerned about the transmission of infectious diseases “would do better to prioritise good personal, respiratory and hand hygiene”.

Dr Jake Dunning, head of emerging infections and zoonoses, Public Health England, said: “Face masks play a very important role in clinical settings, such as hospitals.

“However, there is very little evidence of widespread benefit from their use outside of these clinical settings.

“Face masks must be worn correctly, changed frequently, removed properly, disposed of safely and used in combination with good universal hygiene behaviour in order for them to be effective.

“Pharmacists are emphasising the importance of simple precautionary measures like regular hand washing, in line with World Health Organisation guidance.”

However, members of the public in Worcester are still trying to buy face masks - and “panic buying” has been seen.

Many pharmacies are struggling to cope

A pharmacist at Scales Pharmacy in Upper Tything, Worcester, said it had not experienced a shortage in PPE for staff and said: “At the moment we have enough.”

He said because it was a small pharmacy with fewer staff it was less of a challenge to source PPE than larger pharmacies. However, he confirmed it was running low on supplies for customers although he said ‘wholesalers were trying their best for us’.

Kitson’s in Broad Street had enough PPE for staff but was running low on supplies for customers.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) says that a diminished supply of equipment such as masks, gloves and aprons places an unnecessary level of danger on pharmacists and could endanger the lives of many at-risk customers.

RPS director of pharmacy Robbie Turner said pharmacists had been told to buy PPE from wholesalers, which have been either out of stock or charging expensive prices.

To be effective, masks need to be tight fitting as face shapes can vary.

The Health and Safety Executive said on its website: “Tight-fitting respirators (such as disposable FFP3 masks and reusable half masks) rely on having a good seal with the wearer’s face.

“A face fit test should be carried out to ensure the respiratory protective equipment (RPE) can protect the wearer.”

Face shields and disposable aprons are worn by front line staff to reduce the risk of coronavirus contamination.

Aprons provide a surface which can be easily binned as the virus can still be active on surfaces for around three days after making contact, so if a person touched the surface and then their mouth, they could become infected. Face shields prevent bodily fluids from reaching the eyes and mouth - although the risk of getting infected in this way is “low”.

GPs in the county are finding it difficult to get hold of face masks for their own use, such is the national shortage.

Dr Farmer, speaking on behalf of the independent body which represents Worcester’s GPs, said: “Although we have been promised national supplies of personal protective equipment by our government, these have been very slow to appear.

“Several practices have told us that they will run out of supplies very soon and have yet to receive reassurance about when the next deliveries of PPE will be made.

“We are however in the fortunate position in Worcestershire that we have managed to source some of our own supplies locally and so we are able to carry on seeing patients where necessary.

“We are aiming to carry out consultations remotely wherever possible in order to reduce the risk of transmission of coronavirus to patients and staff.”

She added: “We support the view held by the BMA and others that industry should now be repurposed with immediate effect to manufacture PPE equipment in order to protect our workforce. It is only by protecting our healthcare workers with sufficient supplies of a high standard of PPE that we will be able to continue to provide the high standard of clinical care to our patients that they deserve.

“Without this we risk becoming ill ourselves, reducing the available workforce and we may be inadvertently passing on the virus to other patients.”

Carers who come into contact with the most vulnerable in society are also struggling to get hold enough protective equipment to protect themselves and the elderly whom they look after in care homes in the county as well as nationwide.

But the crisis is far from over, with the government continuing to stress residents should follow the rules and only go out for essential journeys during this lockdown period.

Twenty seven deaths have been announced at the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, according to figures released on a daily basis by NHS England.

Although the deaths were announced on April 10 - and relate to those announced by the trust for the previous day - the deaths did not all happen on that day. They relate to deaths that happened previously but have only just been added to official totals.

There have been no new deaths recorded by the Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust - that figure remains at four.

It means that there has been a total of 83 deaths in the county's hospitals since the crisis began.

Observing Government guidelines on social isolation is among the most effective ways of reducing risk, “flattening the curve” and getting the county back to a degree of normality.

It is not certain how long this crisis will go on for but it is anticipated to be this way for many months to come.