VILLAGE surgeries have moved to discourage patients from attending except in exceptional circumstances in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Covid-19 has already had a significant impact on medical services across Halstead and Essex as a whole.

On Monday Mid Essex Hospital Trust confirmed the first death in the county, with a woman in her 90s who had underlying health conditions passing away at Broomfield Hospital.

The number of cases in Essex had shot as high as 27 by the Gazette’s print deadline on Thursday. Across the UK there have now been 2,626 confirmed cases of the virus and 103 deaths.

The rapid spread of the condition has led Finchingfield’s Freshwell Health Centre to ban patients attending except on staff advice. The surgery hopes to reduce the amount of face to face contact between patients and staff.

In a statement the surgery said: “Please be reassured we are here to support you with your healthcare needs. The surgery is open for our usual office hours.

“We aim to manage as many problems as possible via phone, email and e-consultant, thus reducing face to face contacts to protect patients and staff.

“We are not taking any new face to face bookings at this time. All patients requiring our help will be triaged via telephone and asked to attend the surgery if further assessment is required.”

Pre-booked appointments have been cancelled and patients will instead receive phone calls from a GP or a nurse at the relevant time.

The move to shut down face to face services in Finchingfield comes after Halstead’s Elizabeth Courtauld Surgery suspended its morning weekday walk-in service.

Not long after the move, the surgery was forced to close for nearly 24 hours for a deep clean after a Covid-19 scare.

A woman was supposed to be swabbed for the virus but 111 did not manage to visit the lady within 48h , so then it became obsolete.

Keeping in contact with the patient, it appears they have since got better with no harm caused.

Following a positive response from patients, other surgeries in the area have followed in Elizabth Courtauld's footsteps and banned walk ins.

The Pump House Surgery in Earls Colne is asking patients “not to attend the premises without speaking to one of our surgery team on the telephone”, also suspending online appointment bookings.

Both Hedingham medical centres, the Castle Surgery and Hilton House Surgery, have also taken similar precautions.

As far as the Gazette is aware, there have been no confirmed cases of coronavirus in the Halstead area.

Halstead in Bloom has been forced to cancel its annual general meeting this evening, as well as its team meeting next week.

Judging for the Anglia in Bloom competition has been cancelled but there has not yet been a decision on the RHS Britain in Bloom competition.

The group is also no longer hosting a community litter pick next Sunday, due to start at 10.30am.