THERE is confusion about a reported case of coronavirus in Worcester after the council said there were no cases in the county – but the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said an employee at its city job centre had tested positive for Covid-19.

This morning, a spokesman for the DWP told the Worcester News that a member of staff at the Jobcentre in Worcester had tested positive for coronavirus.

The spokesman said: “We are having a jobcentre deep cleaned and it will reopen in due course. We are contacting customers whose appointments are affected and these will be rearranged. All payments will be made as usual.”

However, this afternoon, Dr Kathryn Cobain, Director for Public Health for Worcestershire, said: “There are no confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Worcestershire. Updated figures are released daily from the Chief Medical Officer and no cases have been confirmed in the county.”

The Worcester News understands that the member of staff who works at the Worcester Jobcentre does not live in the county, which may explain the conflicting messages from the DWP and county council.