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The government today admitted it sometimes counts a pair of gloves as "two gloves" in a row over statistics on vital PPE.

Downing Street said gloves are sometimes counted individually when the government boasts of the number of protective items it has sent to hospitals.

That would mean, in some cases, a figure of 100 gloves would only mean 50 actual pairs had been sent to the coronavirus front line.

A row has raged since the pandemic hit the UK over the availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) for NHS and social care staff.

Downing Street and ministers have repeatedly boasted of the millions of gloves per day sent to hospitals.

Earlier this month, Health Secretary Matt Hancock claimed the number of items of PPE sent to the frontline had topped one billion.

(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

However, a BBC Panorama documentary ran claims that gloves were sometimes counted individually, making the figure look bigger than it was.

Today No10 said gloves were sometimes counted individually - but not always.

"It’s not even that simple I'm afraid," the Prime Minister's official spokesman said.

"Gloves are counted differently depending on clinical settings.

"Sometimes they’re single, sometimes they’re pairs, and often they’re counted as fours in high risk areas.

"It’s not correct to say they’re all counted individually - they’re counted in a number of different ways."

Last night's BBC Panorama investigation found that key items of PPE were not included in the government's pandemic stockpile.

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Gowns, visors, swabs and body bags were left out of the stockpile when it was set up in 2009. Some of the items are now in short supply.

A Government spokesman told the programme that the expert committee that advises ministers on new and emerging respiratory virus threats, known as Nervtag, did not recommend stockpiling swabs and body bags.

Today the PM's official spokesman said: "In relation to the stockpile that was set up in 2009, the pandemic influenza preparedness programme was designed to prepare for influenza outbreaks and the stockpile was based on recommendations from the New and Emerging Respiratory Threats Advisory Group.

"Surgical gowns are a recent recommendation and will be procured for inclusion in future stockpiles."

He added: "We have been working to secure gowns and other PPE from across the globe for a number of months."

New figures show more than 4,000 Covid-related deaths were recorded in a fortnight in English care homes.

Care home staff have complained of a lack of PPE and say the way daily figures are reported - only including hospitals - means they are forgotten in the pandemic.

Today Downing Street defended the government's response, insisting testing is now ramping up.

More than 7,000 of the 10,000 available coronavirus home testing kits were ordered in the first hour of availability from 8am on Tuesday, Downing Street said.

By 8am this morning 22,000 of the 26,000 available drive-through testing site appointments had also been booked, the Prime Minister's spokesman said.

There are now 16 operational military-run mobile testing sites: Torquay, Hereford, Boston, Salisbury, Bishop Auckland, Barnet, Northampton, Grimsby, Skegness, Blackpool, Macclesfield, Ramsgate, Harwich, Barnsley, Grantham and Kendal.

The Government hopes to have 96 mobile testing facilities by the start of May.

Downing Street said just 3.6% of doctors and 7.3% of nurses were off sick yesterday with coronavirus.

That is down from 6.6% of doctors and 9.5% of nurses on April 4.