Some 2,500 staff who work for the LloydsPharmacy chain are self-isolating, the company's chief executive has revealed.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Toby Anderson said: "It is important that, with more than 20 per cent sickness in our frontline teams, we ensure all healthcare workers have access to Covid-19 tests so that we can help get frontline staff back into helping patients in the community."

He said employees had access to PPE, and had protective screens and visors for further protection.

Praising his staff, he said: “It’s amazing they have been able to open every one of our Lloyds pharmacies each day and we’ve been able to get out record levels of medicines to every hospital in the country each day.”

To help its pharmacy teams, the company has redeployed over 350 people from other parts of the company. Field teams and clinically-trained head office staff are working in its pharmacies, and over 400 pharmacy students are also coming into work to help patients get the medicines they need, says chief retail officer Kevin Birch.

“I am incredibly grateful to our frontline teams for what they have achieved in the last few weeks to ensure the safe delivery of medication to more than 1.5 million patients every single week.”