One in 20 workers at two hospitals in England are off work due to coronavirus. Some 583 employees are absent from Royal Stoke University Hospital and Stafford's County Hospital, which employ around 11,500 people.
It comes as six hospital staff were reportedly sent home after catching coronavirus when they failed to wear a mask while sharing lifts to and from work.
Workers at the University Hospitals of North Midlands (UHNM) trust were told about the incident in an email last week. Government guidelines recommend people wear face masks if they are travelling in a vehicle with anyone from another household.
On Tuesday, 987 workers at UHNM were off sick, with 583 of these employees either having coronavirus or isolating because someone in