Free accommodation has been offered to London NHS workers by Claridge’s hotel to help staff unable to live at home during the coronavirus pandemic.

The five-star hotel said it is opening its doors to 40 doctors, nurses and other key staff based in London from Friday 3 March.

They will be put up in rooms that usually start from £650 a night and will receieve breakfast as well as dinner, Claridge’s said.

It comes just days after the hotel, based in Mayfair, shut its doors for the first time in its 200-year history.

Announcing the move, Paddy McKillen, co-owner of the Maybourne Group, which runs the hotel, said: “Just as it has in the past world wars, Claridge’s has a duty to step up and support the people of London.

“Teams from all our hotels have volunteered to help and support the dedicated NHS workers at this critical time. We are forever in their debt.”

Claridge’s staff were sent home following last week’s closure but started returning to the hotel on Wednesday to prepare for the influx of guests from St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington.

Many NHS workers have been forced to find alternative accommodation during the pandemic because they live with relatives in high-risk groups.

Meanwhile, other NHS staff have found themselves with nowhere to stay in the capital after being drafted in from other areas of the country.

London is currently the epicentre of the UK’s battle against Covid-19.

There have been more than 500 deaths in the capital, with almost 4,000 people receiving hospital treatment for the illness, according to government figures released during Tuesday's daily press conference.

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