People suffering a stroke or similar symptoms could be risking their lives by not heading to hospital soon enough, medics have warned.
Hospitals across Greater Manchester have seen a huge fall in the number of people attending with stroke symptoms since the outbreak of coronavirus.
Health chiefs insist that stroke units are safe and have been set up to minimise exposure to Covid-19. In the final week of April 30, per cent fewer people were being assessed with stroke-like symptoms in the region’s specialist stroke unit emergency departments.
There was a similar 50 per cent fall in the number of people being referred by their GP to a specialist after having mini-stroke symptoms - known as a transient ischemic attack.