The number of Covid-19 wards at Swindon’s Great Western Hospital has shrunk from eight to just three.

And the Marlborough Road hospital said it was currently treating just five patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus.

Since the pandemic began, GWH has treated more than 10,000 patients for the virus. 125 people have died at the hospital.

At the height of the crisis the hospital set aside eight wards for Covid-19 patients. Now, three wards have been reorganised to treat those with the virus.

A spokeswoman for GWH said: “Whilst we are seeing a small number of cases in hospital, we do ask that the public remain vigilant and adhere to government guidance around hand hygiene and social distancing so that we can work to further reduce the spread.

“If we do see a spike in cases, we have the ability to escalate Covid-19 bed capacity, and create additional intensive care unit beds, when needed.”

Swindon has seen a small number of outbreaks in recent weeks, with 30 people testing positive at an Iceland supermarket depot run by XPO Logistics. Others test positive at the Royal Mail depot, Honda and a fire station