'This is not a joke': Doctor says he is scared of infecting people with coronavirus

  • By ITV News Trainee Fred Dimbleby

A frontline doctor has told ITV News "we need to step up" to fight against coronavirus.

Dr Mohammed Abbas Khaki, a GP working in north London, appears in the video in the personal protective equipment provided to GPs.

He said: “Do I feel protected wearing this? No. Do I feel safe? No.

“Do my colleagues echo the same sentiment? Yes.

“Am I going to be potentially infecting lots of people on the tube because all of the rest of me is not covered up? Yes.

“Am I worried that there might be things getting in through my eyes...and picking up this virus? Definitely.”

NHS staff have raised concerns over the lack of protective equipment. Credit: PA

Talking about the risk to frontline Healthcare workers, Dr Khaki said: “This is a serious issue. We are two weeks behind Italy in London.

"We need to step up. It isn’t just me, it’s also any nurses, it’s also all of the carers and people working in care homes.”

His father is a pharmacist and Dr Khaki says he worries about him being exposed to the virus.

“People are walking off the street and going straight to the pharmacy and saying ‘I’ve got a cough, I’ve got a sore throat’," he said.

"And suddenly they are passing on this virus and there’s no PPE being given to any of the pharmacists, the frontline social care workers. We need to sort this out, this is not a joke.”

He added: “We have to look after people who are trying to look after us.”

Matt Hancock has said more deliveries are being made. Credit: PA

The Health Secretary Matt Hancock admitted earlier on Monday there have been “challenges” with the supply of personal protective equipment to the NHS.

“The challenge is that obviously the amount they are using has shot up and we need to get the distribution to get to every hospital and making sure they have got those masks," he said.

A hotline has been set up so that medics can inform officials about where there are shortages, he added.

“There is a huge logistical operation on because of the nature and the scale of the NHS and the sheer quantity of masks that are rightly being used.

“It is a massive effort and we want to know if you haven’t got the protective equipment or are about to run out - we want to hear from you as quickly as possible"

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