Great Ormond Street Hospital worker confirmed to be infected with coronavirus

London's world-leading children's hospital has been forced to postpone some non-essential procedures after a staff member was diagnosed with coronavirus.

Great Ormond Street children's hospital in London confirmed that a health worker in the cardiology department had tested positive.

As a result, the hospital said that it was not carrying out any non-essential cardiology procedures for two weeks.

In a statement released on Monday night, the hospital said: "A healthcare professional who works in our cardiology department has tested positive for coronavirus (Covid-19).

"We would like to reassure our families that anybody who came into close contact with this individual is being informed and will be offered advice.

"The majority of services are unaffected and all essential treatment is being carried out, and to ensure patient and staff safety the cardiology department will not be carrying out non-essential cardiac procedures including surgery and outpatients.

"This is for a period of two weeks from today (Monday March 9) and will be subject to daily review. Any patient affected by this change will be contacted directly."

The hospital said it was working with Public Health England and implementing NHS guidance to control risk from the virus.

It added that patients and staff should continue to attend appointments normally and come into work unless they are unwell or advised not to.