A coronavirus pandemic could be “quite useful” in clearing bed blocking in hospitals by killing off patients, a leading former nurse has claimed, while admitting her remarks would be seen as "horrific".

Professor June Andrews said Covid-19 could help hospitals with delayed discharges because these people would be “taken out of the system”.

The former director of the Scottish government’s Centre for Change and Innovation acknowledged the controversial tone of her comments but said they represented the kind of strategic view needed to deal with the circumstances. Prof Andrews later said she had intended her remarks to be ironic.

Speaking at a Scottish Parliament audit committee, she said: “As a nurse my job is to be kind, but I also rip off sticking plasters, so sometimes it seems unkind what you have to say.

“If you’re on the board of a care home company a pandemic is one of the things you think about as a potential damage to your business because of the number of older people it is going to take out the system.

“Curiously, ripping off the sticking plaster, in that hospital I’m thinking about that has 92 delayed discharges, a pandemic would be quite useful because then your hospital would work because these people would be taken out of the system.

“Now that sounds like a horrific thing to say, but it is the case that somehow or other we have put people in the wrong places by not having the kind of strategic views we should have.”

Prof Andrews, who is an adviser to the Dementia Services Development Trust, said she had since been targeted by people online for her comments.

“The one thing I had learned from this is I should never use irony,” she said.

“I was asking the question about what the politicians were expecting to happen; do they just expect the old people to disappear.”

Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Show all 11 1 /11 Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Ben Gurion International airport, Israel Empty El Al Israel Airlines check-in counters are seen at Ben Gurion International airport in Lod, near Tel Aviv, Israel February 27, 2020. REUTERS/Amir Cohen AMIR COHEN Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing This picture taken on February 14, 2020 shows two men wearing face masks walking through a nearly empty terminal at Daxing international airport in Beijing, as travel has ground to a halt in the wake of the the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. (Photo by NICOLAS ASFOURI / AFP) (Photo by NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP via Getty Images) NICOLAS ASFOURI AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan epa08238057 The empty departure hall of the No 2 Terminal at the Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan City, northen Taiwan, 22 February 2020. The coronavirus causing COVID-19 disease which originated from Wuhan, China, has devastated Taiwan's tourism and aviation industries, forcing airlines to cancel flights and travel agencies to lay off workers or close. EPA/DAVID CHANG DAVID CHANG EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam A woman walks in the nearly empty arrival hall of Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on February 27, 2020, as the number of air travellers has plummeted amid fears over the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. (Photo by Mladen ANTONOV / AFP) (Photo by MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP via Getty Images) MLADEN ANTONOV AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo A man wearing protective face mask, following the outbreak of the coronavirus, pushes his luggage past desks, closed for construction, at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan, March 4, 2020. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov STOYAN NENOV Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Changsha Huanghua International Airport, China A woman wearing a face mask stands in the empty luggage collection hall at the airport in Changsha, Hunan Province, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, China, January 27, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas Peter THOMAS PETER Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China epaselect epa08194188 A passenger wearing a protective mask stands in the empty hall of Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China, 04 February 2020 (issued 05 February 2020). Major global airlines have canceled their flights to mainland China to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus, which has so far killed at least 493 people and infected more that 24,000, mostly in China. EPA/ROMAN PILIPEY ROMAN PILIPEY EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing This picture taken on February 14, 2020 shows a salesclerk wearing a protective face mask and gloves (R) at an empty duty free shop at Daxing international airport in Beijing, as travel has ground to a halt in the wake of the the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. (Photo by NICOLAS ASFOURI / AFP) (Photo by NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP via Getty Images) NICOLAS ASFOURI AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo An empty departures gate is pictured at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan, March 4, 2020. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov STOYAN NENOV Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China epa08194181 Passengers wearing protective masks sit in the empty hall of Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China, 04 February 2020 (issued 05 February 2020). Major global airlines have canceled their flights to and from mainland China to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus, which has so far killed at least 493 people and infected more that 24,000, mostly in China. EPA/ROMAN PILIPEY ROMAN PILIPEY EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam Passengers with protective facemasks walk with their luggage in the empty arrival hall of Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on February 27, 2020, as the number of air travellers has plummeted amid fears over the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. (Photo by Mladen ANTONOV / AFP) (Photo by MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP via Getty Images) MLADEN ANTONOV AFP via Getty

In total, 163 people in the UK had tested positive for Covid-19 as of Friday morning, up from 115 cases reported at the same time on Thursday.

More than 100,000 people have now been infected worldwide, and the outbreak has killed 3,400 across 90 nations.

The UK reported its first death linked to Covid-19 on Thursday after a woman, believed to be in her 70s, died after being diagnosed with the virus at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading.

Health secretary Matt Hancock confirmed a second death on Friday after an “older” man with “underlying health conditions” died.

It is understood the man, who is believed to have died at a hospital in Milton Keynes, tested positive for the disease in an initial screening. More tests are due to be carried out.