London, April 10, 2020 (AltAfrica)-OVER half of paramedics given coronavirus results in a single ambulance force tested positive, The Sun can reveal.

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Nearly 500 West Midlands Ambulance Service staff have been given swabs and, of the 114 confirmed results so far, 58 were positive and 56 negative

A source said: “This is a worrying time for frontline crew and these figures add to calls for them to receive proper protection.”

“These guys are heroes and need the best kit possible and proper testing across the board as quickly as possible.”

“We need our paramedics to beat this and to do that they need to be regularly tested.”

It sparks fears crews could be wiped out as NHS staff must self-isolate for 14 days if they are found to have the bug.

Crews have called on health chiefs to supply more protective gear as they fear for their lives visiting up to ten coronavirus patients a shift with “dismal” gear.

One staff member for North West Ambulance Service told The Sun they have to “beg” to be tested.

On Thursday, another 881 people have died after contracting coronavirus, taking the UK death toll to at least 7,978, the Foreign Secretary has confirmed.

The jump in deaths is one of the biggest daily increases since the outbreak began, following a massive rise of 938 on Wednesday and 854 on Tuesday.

The toll was updated after England recorded another 765 deaths. Scotland reported 81 deaths, while 41 were recorded in Wales and four in Northern Ireland.

The combined figure from the four nations comes to 891, which is slightly higher than the number – 881 – later released by the government

The government has said this difference is because each devolved authority often makes amendments to their own data after reporting deaths to the Department of Health (DoH) each day.