The Labour leader spoke out after it emerged the Government was stepping up its fight against the deadly outbreak by renting 8,000 beds from healthcare firms at a cost of £2.4million a day. The plan to pay £300 a day for private beds followed demands by Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth and the GMB union who fear the 128,000 overnight beds in NHS hospitals will quickly be overwhelmed by coronavirus patients.

It’s disgraceful that private healthcare companies are making a profit out of the coronavirus

Jeremy Corbyn

There are 570 private hospitals in the UK and around 8,000 beds available in the private sector.

But Mr Corbyn lashed out on social media and insisted the private beds should be commandeered for free.

He said: “It’s disgraceful that private healthcare companies are making a profit out of the coronavirus. The beds should be used by the NHS. Rent-free.

“The Government must use all the resources possible.”

But critics pointed out the £300 fee covered the cost of medical staff and other hospital workers rather than just the bed and was not driven by profit.

And they described Mr Corbyn’s bid to use a national health emergency to try score political points as “deplorable”.

Political commentator James Ball said: “I hate this stuff.

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“This is £300 per day, per bed. Beds need nurses, they need doctors, they need cleaners, they need electricity, patients need meals, etc. This looks a lot like cost price, not profit.

“Scoring cheap populist points in times of crisis is deplorable.”

Twitter user Judge Dave posted: “I genuinely believe things would be worse right now if he’d won the election and was PM.

“He’d still be ‘consulting the membership’ about what to do.”

And Ann Cunniffe tweeted: “You cant expect anything else from Corbyn. He’s an absolute worm.”

Boris Johnson will address the nation on the coronavirus threat after meeting ministers and officials to consider measures including banning mass gatherings and lengthy household isolation for the elderly.

The Prime Minister will chair an emergency meeting of the Cobra committee on Monday afternoon before holding the first of the daily press conferences being planned to update the public on Covid-19.

Mr Johnson is also planning to ask British manufacturers including the Unipart Group to support the production of essential medical equipment for the NHS, such as desperately-needed ventilators.

And he will speak with all G7 leaders including US President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss a co-ordinated global response to the pandemic.

Amid criticism over a lack of transparency, Downing Street announced plans to hold daily televised press conferences so either the Prime Minister or a senior minister can face scrutiny.

Mr Johnson will be joined by Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty and Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance on Monday.

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Some in the scientific community have criticised the Government for taking a slower and more relaxed response to the pandemic than other countries.

But restrictive measures could be announced during the conference.

The Department of Health and Social Care said on Sunday that 14 more patients had died after testing positive for the virus, taking the UK-wide total to 35.

The number of confirmed positive tests reached 1,391, but the true figure of people in the UK with the disease is likely to be far higher.

A Bill detailing emergency powers to deal with the outbreak is expected to be published on Thursday.

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