HOSPITALS in the Bradford district have been rapidly reconfigured to deal with the forthcoming surge in coronavirus cases but some staff are "terrified" of the virus, a leading clinician has warned.

Professor John Wright, an epidemiologist who has was awarded the West Africa medal for his work dealing with Ebola, revealed the race against time that is going on in Bradford.

Speaking at a meeting this evening he said the district's hospitals had been designated red zones and green zones.

The red zones will be reconfigured with more intensive care beds to care for coronavirus patients. In Bradford, those hospitals are the BRI and Airdale Hospitals.

Smaller units in the district are designated as green zones and will attempt to care for patients who are in need of care - but don't have coronavirus.

Prof Wright said staff at the hospitals have been drilling day and night for the past month so they can meet the expected surge.

But he admitted: "Staff are scared in the hospital. They look at where we are and they are nervous. They are terrified some of them. It's going to be like nothing we have seen before.

"This is about giving them confidence to do their job and do it effectively."

Prof Wright said the BRI already had two full wards of patients in intensive care.

And he described Bradford as a "high risk city" because of the number of families with elderly parents and grandparents living in close proximity.

NHS chiefs believe Bradford is about ten days behind London in the size of its epidemic.

Prof Wright said: "We know our colleagues in London are struggling."

But he held out hope that the Government-mandated lockdown may cushion some of the blow on cities beyond the capital.

"Because of the lockdown - because of its timing - it may have had a beneficial effect on Bradford and other cities in the north that it didn't have in London."

Bradford hospitals have quadrupled the number of ventilators - invasive and non-invasive - in a short space of time. Another 50 non-invasive ventilators are expected to be delivered this week.