Parents with seriously-ill children are failing to bring them to hospital out of fear their youngsters will contract coronavirus, a top medic is claiming.
Dr Sanjay Patel, a consultant in paediatric infectious diseases at Southampton Children's Hospital, said fewer children with conditions such as appendicitis, dehydration and sepsis were being brought to its emergency department.
He said that some mums and dads were assuming that all illnesses were being caused by Covid-19 or were not seeking healthcare due to fears over contracting the virus.
He has now helped develop national guidance on children's health to enable parents to assess when they should be seeking help.