Cost of storing covid PPE has soared to £770,000 per day

The cost of storing unused pandemic PPE in warehouses has soared to £770,000 per day.

There are 13.2billion items of PPE in storage – compared to the 17.3billion pieces delivered to frontline doctors and nurses during the p(l)andemic.

The cost of housing the items has risen from £700,000 a day in August to £770,000 today.

The majority is stored in warehouses and containers in the UK, but there are also 120million items in China.

The National Audit Office found that the amount of PPE stored in the UK was worth £8.6billion – more than the amount spent on aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth and its sister ship HMS Prince of Wales.

The figure was revealed in a written parliamentary question, answered by health minister Will Quince.