By Catherine Wylie and Patrick Daly, PA

PEOPLE in their 30s and early 40s with coronavirus are ’fighting for their lives’ in intensive care in some parts of the UK, a Labour MP and practising doctor has said.

Rosena Allin-Khan, the Labour deputy leadership candidate and a senior A&E registrar, said Boris Johnson’s ’relaxed’ approach to the disease and ’mixed messaging’ could cost lives.

The Tooting MP, who has been doing shifts in St George’s Hospital in south London, said she has been surprised at how young some of the patients are.

In a diary recorded for BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, Dr Allin-Khan said: "We have patients who are in their 30s and early 40s who are previously fit and well who are now in the intensive care and fighting for their lives.

"This is a virus which is very, very difficult to predict. We just don’t know how the course of the next few weeks is going to pan out."

In the diary, she said there is a ’very real sense that the number of cases are growing and they are growing very, very quickly’.

Dr Allin-Khan added: "If we look at the fact that we are two weeks behind Italy, we are headed for a disaster if people do not heed the social-distancing measures.

"The Prime Minister simply said yesterday he wants people to enjoy themselves outside while also saying that people should stay two metres apart outdoors.

"This relaxed style, mixed messaging will cost lives and I believe people are struggling to follow guidelines because they are just not clear."

The emergency department doctor confirmed she would support a ’full lockdown’ if that was proven to be the way to save lives.