A GP surgery has been handed over to locum doctors while staff recover from a covid-19 outbreak.

Dr Abdul Mannan, who runs The Surgery Haslingden, received a positive coronavirus test on October 20, and he began creating video diaries to track his journey with the virus.

Since then, three other staff members have tested positive including another doctor, Imran Khan, who was taken off oxygen recently whilst recovering in hospital.

The infections have come despite staff using PPE and avoiding mixing.

On a Facebook post to his patients, Dr Mannan, 44, said: “I am pleased to say that my colleague Imran Khan has now come off oxygen. He is still in hospital but improving every day.

“My other colleagues, Julie Yates and Zoe Millington, are also home now. They are getting better. The rest of our team are either well or on the mend also.

“We sincerely hope you are all well. The surgery continues to operate every day. Please contact us if you need anything. We have locum doctors working for us daily. They are all former trainee GPs of the practice and have come back to work for us in this time. They’re all great doctors and will look after your needs whilst myself and Imran are recovering.”

Dr Mannan isn’t sure whether the outbreak in his surgery occurred when he was working before being tested on the Monday or whether it could be linked to all of the staff having close links to children who are all in school.

When asked how he thought the virus may have spread through the surgery, Dr Mannan said: “ One unique characteristic of the team at the surgery is we are all young parents.

“I’ve got kids at school and college, Julie has got young grandkids, Zoe and Imran have got young kids, so it could be any one of our kids because they don’t show the same symptoms and sometimes don’t show any symptoms.

“At work we are very strict in that I can’t go to reception, they can’t come to my office. They have to wear PPE and masks and we can’t talk to one another without masks or aprons.

“You can only control your work environment but what you can’t do is control your home environment in that way.”

Dr Mannan and his 68-year-old mother, Altadua Nessa, had to go to hospital on Monday after their oxygen levels dropped.

He said: “Even as a GP you don’t quite comprehend it until you go through it yourself.

“This is not a flu.

"This is where I went wrong and if I’m going wrong then people out there have got to be going wrong and that’s probably why they don’t really appreciate it.

“The worst flu won’t last more than two weeks but this is in a different league.

"This is in a superleague when it comes to preparing for flu.

"It really does sledge-hammer you.

“Flu is bad enough. This is different.

"You’ve got to respect this one.”

After being admitted to Royal Blackburn Hospital, Dr Mannan said the staff could not have been better, ensuring that he and his mother got the help they needed.

Dr Mannan was discharged after 24 hours and continued to care for himself at home but his mother remained in hospital for four days before being discharged.