People with coronavirus symptoms are struggling to get through on the NHS 111 phone line because it is swamped with calls, raising fears that numbers of infected people are much higher than official figures.

Many of those ringing 111 report being kept on hold for up to three hours waiting to speak to a nurse, and some have simply been cut off after spending time waiting.

Advice on the NHS website is also confusing people: the site tells people to ring 111 only if their symptoms do not improve after seven days or if their condition worsens or if they cannot cope with symptoms at home.

However, the site also has a question-and-answer flowchart, where anyone with virus symptoms who is too ill to get out of bed is advised to ring 111 straight away.

On Thursday, the government changed its approach, officially telling people with symptoms not to call 111, as the strain on the system increased.

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Testing of anyone with symptoms not in hospital was also dropped.

Officially, the number of cases in the UK is nearly 800 but the actual number of people infected could be up to 10,000, the government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance.

He said the government wanted 60 per cent of the population to catch the virus to create “herd immunity”.

A deputy head teacher from Manchester said he spent two-and-a-half hours on the phone to 111 only to be told there were not enough testing kits and the government wanted “to control the data”.

Twitter user Jamie Scott said his brother, whose children were sick, had twice been on hold to 111, each time for three hours, without getting through.

Another, Michelle, said she had had symptoms for six days but could not get through.

Some people said the closest they had been able to get to speaking to a medical professional was calling their local health centre reception. Suspected coronavirus sufferers are being asked to stay away from GP surgeries.

One woman in the north of England told The Independent: “I have a friend who is really quite ill and is a possible source of infection but who cannot get through to 111 at all. She just keep getting a ‘high volume of calls’ message.

“If this is being repeated all over the country, how many cases are going unreported or not tested?

“She is an ex-nurse, with medical family members looking after her at home, but most won’t be so lucky. And if she has got Covid-19, she can’t find out or let anyone know.”

As another sign of the increasing strain on NHS phone lines; people are told to ring 111 only if they cannot get help online.

The NHS website advises people to stay at home for seven days if they have either a high temperature or a new, continuous cough.

“You do not need to contact 111 to tell them you’re staying at home,” it advises.

People are told to ring 111 if they cannot cope with symptoms at home, their condition gets worse or symptoms do not get better after seven days.

But a questionnaire — if someone answers that they are so unwell they cannot function normally — ends in advice to call 111 to speak to a nurse.

A spokesman for NHS England said: “Understandably, NHS 111 has come under pressure in recent weeks as the coronavirus outbreak has spread, but in line with the government’s decision yesterday, it is important that people with symptoms do not call NHS 111 but instead go online for help.

“As the chief medical officer said, anyone who routinely calls NHS 111 about mild symptoms will risk people with life-threatening conditions not getting the care and attention they need.”

He added that it was acceptable to ring 111 before the seven days were up if someone was getting worse or could not cope at home.