A waiting room at Watford General Hospital was evacuated after a coughing patient claimed he had coronavirus.

People sat in a non-Covid waiting room who could be potentially vulnerable to the virus last week grew concerned after a fellow patient was seen "coughing and spluttering".

Nevin Keating, 64, who was in hospital for treatment following a hit-and-run last year, said the man appeared to be in a "terrible state" and was "rocking up and down".

At one point he allegedly took off his face covering and continued coughing, and when Mr Keating asked what was wrong the patient told him he was "Covid-positive".

It is understood the patient was then moved elsewhere and the rest of the people were taken to a separate room after patients allegedly requested for cleaning to take place. 

However, a spokesperson for West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust said the man was later confirmed not to have Covid and systems are in place to ensure if he did he would not have been in that room.

“We are sorry if any patients were alarmed but we maintain separate pathways of care for Covid and non-Covid patients,” they added.

“Patient safety was not compromised at any time.”

According to eyewitnesses, staff claimed the coughing man was previously in A&E but appeared to not speak English, so was moved to the waiting room.

Mr Keating believes the man was pretending to not speak English to staff as when in the waiting room he spoke clearly to him.

The 64-year-old praised staff for their hard work but questioned whether correct procedures are being followed.

He said: "Staff are so worn down, what do you do when you come to a hospital and someone says they can’t speak English?

"They’re obviously going to treat them.

"But there didn’t seem to be a procedure. It’s not the staffs’ fault, they’re not bouncers, and if you have someone pretending that can’t speak English - I don’t know if they knew what to do with the person.”

Mr Keating, who has been waiting six months for a scan on his injured leg, says a complaint has been submitted to the trust over its Covid protocols.

He added: “A lot of people would have been sat in the chairs and not realised they were next to someone who believed he had Covid."