LANCASHIRE’S peak for coronavirus deaths and the number of people in hospital battling the illness could be in mid-May, the man leading the county’s response to the pandemic has revealed.

Deputy Chief Constable Terry Woods, who chairs the Lancashire Resilience Forum, said millions of pounds has been spent on personal protective equipment (PPE) for non-NHS frontline workers, including police, prison officers, firefighters, cleaners, refuse collectors and care workers.

The first consignment arrived from China this morning and DCC Woods said further deliveries were expected in the coming days and weeks, with enough ordered to kit out frontline staff in the county for up to six weeks.

DCC Woods would not be drawn on whether a mid-May peak for the coronavirus pandemic in Lancashire would result in extended lockdown measures and said the biggest concern for the forum at present was protecting residents and staff in the county’s 600 plus care homes.

He said the LRF was looking at getting mobile coronavirus testing to local bases, including in East Lancashire - to run in conjunction with the drive-thru testing facility which is now operating out of Preston College – to ensure care home staff have access to testing.

DCC Woods said although the number of tests at the drive-thru centre were growing everyday, there was no issue in testing capacity and the local challenge was getting the right people to be tested.

He said the LRF would support the NHS in its bid to ensure there was enough PPE in the national supply chain, but their main focus was ensuring there is enough safety equipment in "the rest of the system".

DCC Woods said: "Anybody and everybody that would require PPE, we're looking at that side. The truth is that it is very challenging because of the sheer rate we're burning through that kit. That's people appropriately using that kit because they need to. As Lancashire is one of the biggest county populations that is a significant amount of kit we're burning through every day.

"What we haven't had in Lancashire is any absolute crisis points because of the work we are doing behind the scenes around sourcing, fetching and shifting the kit. We're getting kit from various sources. Some emergency supplies have landed in every county over the last week. We have had some, but you're talking days worth, nothing more.

"What we have done as a county – and I feel it is our responsibility as the LRF – is make no assumptions that people are going to look after us. We're all part of this community and we are charged with protecting our communities as best as we possibly can.

"In the last week we have sourced a supply from abroad and we're having that flown over. The first consignment of that landed this morning - not high number. We have ordered millions of pounds worth of PPE from abroad – specifically China – and it's being flown over in the next few weeks in different quantities.

"If that plan works then we think we will have sourced four to six weeks worth of PPE, which from a county perspective I think we have swam The Channel if we achieve that.

"We are hopeful we have got for what we think is going to be our peak period in time a reasonable supply of PPE to protect the public and save lives in Lancashire."

Encouraging people to continue to adhere to the Government's coronavirus lockdown guidelines and not get drawn into a "false sense of security", DCC Woods said: "For Lancashire we haven't reached the peak – there are lots of caveats on this because this is all modelling work which we are doing locally – but we think we are a few weeks away from what we think is going to be the peak.

"I think mid-May is when we're looking at Lancashire being at its peak. By peak I mean the numbers of people in hospital and the numbers of people dying.

"My plea on that is we really need to carry on as best we can with the behaviours people have been doing around the guidelines. It's really crucial that at the minute because we are not out of the woods and we're expecting that peak to come if our modelling remains true."

DCC Woods said that although they were hoping to never have to use it – although accepting the reality was they would be using it in the next few weeks – the temporary morgue at BAE's Warton  site had capacity for 1,000 bodies.

On the LRF's contingency measures for care workers he added: "We are putting a lot of effort into assurance and help around the care system outside of the hospital setting. Lancashire County Council have 450 care homes and you layer into that Blackpool Unitary Authority and Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council and we're in a ball park figure of 600 care homes in Lancashire.

"That is a huge volume of people who are vulnerable with a massive workforce that we are now having a very careful look at. We have got a contingency plan around care homes, problems with staffing – from cooks to cleaners to carers. It's a huge challenge but something we are really trying our best to have a very good plan with contingencies around support if things start to fall over for any reason.

"If the care system is challenged in any way or falls over then your hospital occupancy rate is massively affected. The care system is a massive part of the UK's response to this virus. If we can maintain the care system flowing that means beds can be retained in hospitals, which means if you get critically ill you have more chance of survival."

DCC Woods said he was hoping to have verified figures on the number of coronavirus outbreaks in care homes in the county in the coming days.

He added that there were mutual aid agreements in place between all 14 of the local authority hubs in the county to ensure no area "drops through the cracks" if they get a large number of people testing positive for coronavirus.