A RECOVERY centre built to treat coronavirus patients in Barrow is due to close.

Constructed by the army, the Furness Academy recovery centre was among others converted across the county to provide beds for those infected with Covid-19.

The headteacher of the school has now announced the centre is in the process of being dismantled and the beds and cubicles would be gone by the end of the week.

No new coronavirus deaths were reported by the trust which runs Furness General Hospital yesterday and none in the rest of the county.

In a letter to parents, headteacher Simon Laheney said: “I am pleased to report that following a meeting, the requirement for Furness Academy to be a Covid-19 Recovery Centre has been stood down.

“This is great news for our community and the process of de-installing the cubicles and returning our school back to us started the following day.

“The entire process will be completed by the end of this week and again, we are truly grateful to all of those who were involved in its installation making themselves available to take it down.

“Their generosity at this time is greatly appreciated.

“Everything is being carefully dismantled and will be placed into storage for use in the future, should the need arise.”

Barrow and Furness MP Simon Fell said: “The recovery centre is a remarkable achievement - built by the army and our community in no time at all, and not used due to the incredible efforts of our health and social care teams.

“That the space is being returned to Furness Academy shows how the community effort to drive down the virus has been so effective. It going is a credit to them.”

According to the latest figures, the number of new cases of coronavirus in Barrow has plummeted. The most recent data from May 31 showed zero new cases for the first time since statistics started being released.

The borough still has the highest rate of cases in the country with 835 per 100,000 people, although health chiefs say this is down to the numbers of tests carried out.