A manager has warned his care home has been "left to cope by itself" in the face of the coronavirus outbreak. 

Mark Topps, a manager at Little Wakering House, in Little Wakering, has spent the last two-to-three weeks trying to order face masks for his staff which have not yet arrived.

And on Monday he was forced to drive an hour and a half to replace a digital thermometer, which he paid almost £60 for.

About 25 per cent of his staff have had to self-isolate over the past few weeks, while one resident has potential coronavirus symptoms.

No staff or residents have been tested, and Mr Topps has set up a Change.org petition, with more than 200,000 signatures, calling for the Government to ensure all care workers are tested.

The 32-year-old said: "I kind of thought well, he (the resident) could have it, and we could be going in with our gloves and our aprons but we don't actually have anything else to protect us other than what we would normally use.

"I think the general feeling across a lot of social care is that we are just going to be left to it, to manage as best as we can, which is worrying."

He also warned coronavirus will "spread like wildfire" if it does enter care homes, because of the lack of PPE, resources and support.

In his petition, to PM Boris Johnson and Health Secretart Matt Hancock, he states: "I'm the manager of a residential care home and facing one of the toughest times we have faced.

"I have seen staff having to self-isolate and residents doing the same, and there are hundreds of other care staff across the country in the same boat. 

"Every day we go to the care home and deliver care to the elderly and most vulnerable with limited supplies of gloves, aprons, masks, hand sanitiser etc.

"We are not being tested and nor are the residents. How do we know that we are not spreading it to them, or leaving the care homes and spreading COVID-19 to our families and members of the public? The truth is we don’t know.

"That's why we're calling on the Government to urgently ensure care workers to be tested. 

"The same dilemma is being faced by everyone working in a care home, domestic staff, cooks, administrators and volunteers.

"The Government classed us as unskilled and yet now we're expected to be the frontline workforce, keeping residents out of hospitals and protecting your loved ones. 

"The knowledge that I could be spreading this with residents I work with and my family is the worst feeling. As a dad of three beautiful children, I struggle to know what the most responsible thing to do is.

"There are care workers up and down the country delivering care into peoples homes, possibly spreading the virus further into other families.

"I am petitioning for all care workers to be tested! We are your front line! Please help us by signing

"Care Workers deserve better! We deserve to be tested and we deserve equipment to do our jobs."