THE LATEST available figures for coronavirus in  Cumbria are likely to be the "tip of an iceberg," says the county's most senior public health chief.

Colin Cox, the County Council’s Director of Public Health, said he welcomed the news that the government was planning to ramp up the amount of testing that will be done for covid-19. The government is responsible for supplying local figures for infection rates.

But officials in London have not supplied Cumbria with up-to-date figures for some days.

In Carlisle, in line with the strategy outlined by Boris Johnson at a recent coronavirus briefing, testing is currently being done by biomedical scientists at both The Cumberland Infirmary and the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven, he said.

Over the weekend, the Prime Minister said that testing of mild cases would cease and instead testing would be done only for those who are seriously ill with the virus and in hospital.

Public Health England has not been updating case numbers for local authority areas for several days. Figures contained in a government database, last updated on March 11, confirm there were 22 covid-19 cases in the county, though that number has certainly risen.

There is currently no way of knowing how many people are infected in the county.

Commenting on the hospital tests currently being done locally, Mr Cox said: “Those results are not going to tell us much because it’s limited testing. But it’s the tip of an iceberg.”

Asked whether public health officials had any clear information about the scale of the epidemic in Cumbria, he said: “No - because of the changes in the data system and reporting. We’re not clear because we don’t have any data. There are cases being reported to the hospitals because that is who has been doing the testing.

“But the government is now ramping up testing, particularly in the first instance for healthcare workers. I’m glad about that.

“It’s obviously particularly important to know if a healthcare worker has the virus.”

The government yesterday set up far more stringent social distancing measures, urging an end to all large gatherings and telling people to avoid pubs, clubs and restaurants.

Asked whether people should avoid weddings, Mr Cox said: “That’s a really difficult call for people to make. At the moment, registration offices are taking weddings till we get alternative guidance.

“We don’t want to bring together large numbers of people, many of who should be sheltered. They should think very hard about the situation.”

He added that he expects the epidemic to peak in about two months.

A former director of public health in the county, Professor John Ashton, said of the current lack of conronavirus data: “I think it’s a disgrace.

“Data’s fundamental.

“The World Health Organisation has made it clear there needs to be testing to control this. Testing, testing, testing: that’s their message to governments.

“It matters because we need to know: professionals need to know, and the public needs to know where the problem is so they know how seriously they need to take it in terms of their behaviour. People are scared.”

* This story has been updated in the light of figures - currently one week out of date - contained in the government's data set which was published in a database updated on March 11. 

* Local authorities such as Cumbria County Council do not have the power to impose mass school closures, and nor do they control the availability of conronavirus data. That is supplied by the Department of Health and Social Care, but in recent days up-to-date figures have been unavailable.