Coronavirus outbreak confirmed at Yorkshire Ambulance Service in Wakefield

The trust did not confirm how many cases had been recorded but said that emergency calls were being taken by staff at another centre.

A spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that there has been an outbreak of Covid-19 amongst some staff at Yorkshire Ambulance Service’s emergency operations centre in Wakefield, where 999 calls are taken.

"We have robust infection prevention and control measures in place to manage this outbreak, in line with national guidance, and we are working closely with local public health experts.

"We have taken steps to support the resilience of our emergency operations centre and additional assistance is available for 999 call handling from our York facility and other

ambulance trusts through mutual aid arrangements.

"As part of normal business continuity arrangements, mutual aid is provided between ambulance services as they can handle 999 calls seamlessly for each other.

"Callers will be asked the same questions and where an emergency ambulance is required in the Yorkshire and Humber region it will be dispatched from Yorkshire Ambulance Service

"The trust remains very busy during the coronavirus pandemic and we ask that people onlycall 999 when someone is in a serious or life-threatening condition so that ambulance resources are available for those most in need."