A group of GP practices has banned walk-in appointments and insisted on screening requests for appointments to try to stop Covid-19 spread, it has been revealed.

Patients seeking an appointment at practices in the Rochdale area will have to specify the purpose of the appointment – under new rules. And practices will cease offering walk-in appointments, according to the Rochdale Health Alliance, which represents practices in Rochdale, Heywood and Middleton in Greater Manchester.

A Facebook statement said: “To support efforts to minimise the spread of this virus, GP practices in Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale are not able to offer face to face appointments without asking about the reason for the appointment. This may put pressure on GP phone lines so please be patient. You could also use online consultation to contact your practice, this is a way of sending your query electronically. The practice will review and then advise you about the most appropriate course of action for your needs. This can be accessed either via your GP practice website or if you use online services via the patient access app.”

So far Greater Manchester has recorded 20 cases of coronavirus infection including one death. A man in his 60s died in Manchester General Hospital after returning from Italy, the third death recorded in the UK. The patient was reported to have had “a number of underlying health problems.”

The UK total of cases reached 273 yesterday – representing a little more than 1% of the 23,513 people who have been tested. The UK’s neighbours in France and Germany have each recorded more than 700 cases now -with ten deaths in France. In Italy deaths have reached 234 and cases 5,883 while in China the virus has all but ceased its spread, according to the latest World Health Organisation figures. 100 countries are now affected. In Wales the government announced today that it would be distributing packs of personal protection equipment to practices, including masks, gloves and aprons.

Royal College of GPs chair Professor Martin Marshall backed government calls for recently retired doctors to offer their services. He said: “If we are going to try and continue doing what we are doing at the health service and tackle coronavirus, it will require a significant amount of resources. I expect we will cut down in terms of the other work we do. The suggestion at the moment from the chief medical officer is that those who might still have their registration could be quickly brought back on to the medical register and would be able to practise. Most likely these doctors, because they are in the higher-risk patient group, would not do face-to-face contact but there’s lots of things they can do — managing 111 (the helpline), providing online care or telephone-based care.”

Health secretary Matt Hancock announced new measures today aimed at containing the spread of disease. The government is planning emergency legislation, he said. This include new rules to allow volunteers, who currently work in health and social care, to take on new roles. Courts are set to move more hearings onto video links.