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As the situation around the coronavirus pandemic intensifies concerns are growing increasingly high - especially in Cornwall - given the county's elderly population and stretched hospital.

Tensions hit boiling point yesterday when residents noticed holiday businesses had been advertising Cornwall as the perfect place to self-isolate, despite the Prime Minister's advice to avoid non-essential travel.

It came despite pleas from Cornwall's professional mermaid, Laura Evans, for holidaymakers to stay away this Easter.

Comedian and actor Edward Rowe aka Kernow King, also made a point of reminding people that Cornwall has only one major hospital.

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 has remained at ten for the past 24 hours - which is one of the lowest figures for counties across the country.

One advert - now deleted but which sparked fury among residents - stated: "During this difficult times and virus pandemic, it's even more important to keep your family safe.

"Cornwall is now one of the safest places in the UK and has record low cases in coronavirus (COVID-19).

"We are offering our properties as self-isolating destinations. Get your family away from cities and towns where the virus is out of control and self-isolate in Cornwall.

"Our properties are situated in a small fishing hamlet on the south coast of Cornwall. Self-isolate in our coastal properties with panoramic sea views from our private terrace with hot tub.

"Our service includes a deep clean before each arrival. Our new isolating welcome pack containing essentials. We offer food delivery services to your door. Don't self-isolate in hot-spots, minimize the risk to your family and stay safe. Book now."

Another tweet from a different holiday let property, which has also now been removed, added: "Need to self-isolate?! What better place to enjoy peace and quiet than near the river Camel. Dates free on Easter and May."

Commenting on the adverts, a statement from campaign group Kernow Matters To Us said: "We were deeply shocked to be sent the below screen shots of postings on Facebook by one of our thousands of followers on social media.

"Given the extremely limited medical resources available in the Duchy coupled with the Westminster Government's current advice based on scientific opinion, this kind of blatant profiteering places the love of money before life and public safety.

"We know how many ICU beds there are in Cornwall, but does the wider public?

"Are these reckless people who threaten the welfare of one of the poorest regions of Europe unaware of what is exploding in Italy and Spain and heading our way? This is to be utterly condemned."

Another shocked resident said: "Seriously... This is totally irresponsible. Bearing in mind the drain on the NHS down here during the tourist season and one of the oldest populations in the UK."

On the back of the self-isolation adverts, MP for St Austell and Newquay Steve Double said: "As a proud Cornishman I never thought I would say this - but please do NOT come to Cornwall for a holiday in the coming weeks.

"I know its tempting but a holiday is NOT essential travel. We have enough to deal with on our own without people coming here with the virus and putting even more pressure on our NHS and supermarkets.

"I know holiday firms are understandably worried about their business. But encouraging people to come on holiday is really not going to help."

Scott Mann, the MP for North Cornwall, also posted: "I had a long phone conversation with the Tourism Minister early this morning about unnecessary travel to Cornwall.

"I have fed in the many concerns from people who have contacted me about the movement of people and pressure on our Cornish health care system. This issue is being taken extremely seriously and I am wanting to see the Prime Minister give robust instruction on this issue.

"Whilst there is an economic effect on this, our first priority is to keep people well."

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Speaking of visitors coming to the county, Visit Cornwall chief executive Malcolm Bell said those driving themselves to cottages, for example, have no reason not to come, but warned against travel to the county by those using public transport and planning to visit "high-volume" areas.

He said: "There are two parts to this – those with bookings in April and then from May onwards, which gets less clear.

"I think anybody with bookings in June, July, August is to stay calm and carry on and there is no reason to cancel at this time.

"With May, it is a shame but understandably May is quite suspect, with April because it is looking very likely that no-one will want to be on holiday in April and it might be that all places are shut anyway."

(Image: Greg Martin)

He continued: "Technically, at the moment, traditionally, and we are getting this checked out because it is not a traditional position we are in, there is no reason why someone can’t come by driving in their car and staying in a cottage where no-one else is around.

"Then technically, there is no reason why they should cancel it at this time. They can walk along the cliff and get takeaways and all the rest of it, like the rest of us.

"But if you are going to a high-volume area with high catch points you’ve probably got a reason but that is normally covered by the individual’s own personal travel insurance – I know some people don’t take it out because they are in the UK but that is why you take out insurance."

Many hotels across the county remain open at this time, but have been forced to close restaurants and function rooms in order to protect visitors.

Dom Leese who owns Polzeath Holiday Cottages, confirmed that he is still expecting visitors but wouldn't welcome people to self-isolate.

He explained: "At the moment we have got established regular guests booked in and we are checking to see whether shops and restaurants are still opening.

"If they still want to come down I am allowing it as long as they don’t have symptoms. Our cottages are self-catering so are basically their own houses and there are no shared facilities.

"I think we have people who are still planning to come this week and next week. We have to think about the future and we have to think about the other business in Polzeath.

"We are following government guidelines as each day it changes – we are watching the news and general advice. I am not accepting bookings from people who want to come down and self-isolate.

"We aren’t getting new bookings it is generally from guests already booked in – one booking did extend their stay to two weeks rather than one. We have had cancellations as well.

"We are in the same position as anyone in the town. We have only got money from the next six weeks of bookings – after that if they don’t come we could be looking at a year without any money coming in and we have overheads and mortgages to pay.

"We have been preparing for around six weeks to make sure we have cleaning products to keep the cottages safe and we have been cleaning them personally."

Asked if local people have been concerned that holidaymakers are still travelling to the cottages, he added: “People in Polzeath aren’t like that. I am down there every day checking on the cottages and going into the local shops and restaurants to see what they are doing. The local shops have toilet rolls and the smaller supermarkets seem to be better stocked. People are being sensible.

"It isn’t crowded down here – not like it is in July and August.

"I would guess that a lot of second-home owners have come down. I wouldn’t want someone self-isolating down here. We are doing what we can."

Claire, from Penzance, who declined to share her surname, revealed that she has cancelled all her holiday let reservations to protect Royal Cornwall Hospital form an influx of tourists amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The 50-year-old said that her holiday home is her sole income and her sacrifice means she will be forced to use her savings, but added that "human life is more important than money".

She continued: "Late last night we received a booking for four adults, I think they were from London, who wanted to book for two weeks.

"I think they were wanting to self-isolate and I think this is a growing problem in Cornwall.

"I looked on the AirBnb website and found 279 places that sleep six people - that is 1,674 extra people in Cornwall and that's just places that sleep six on one website.

"Places that sleep four would bring another 1,200. There are also the Homeaway sites, where 20,000 people that, in the next couple of days, could potentially book and self-isolate in Cornwall.

"I have contacted Treliske hospital to raise my concerns and they are going to escalate this. Before the coronavirus they were finding it difficult to cope but with this they will not be able to cope.

"I am urging other people to cancel their bookings. We are going to lose money but human life is more important.

"The thought of hundreds of thousands of people coming to Cornwall is really frightening. It is really scary for our health services and residents.

"Just with the people here now the supermarkets are struggling. The waiting list for supermarket deliveries is weeks. It is ridiculous. We have to do something."