INCREDIBLE timelapse video shows a huge queue of NHS workers at a crucial drive-thru coronavirus testing centre at IKEA.

Hundreds of drivers can be seen waiting at the store in Wembley, North West London, after it donated the space to vital healthcare staff.

The hero workers are all self-isolating but want to be tested so they can return to work on the frontline battling the deadly disease.

Any health workers who are found to be clear but are staying away from work will know they are safe to return.

A swab is taken from the nose or throat before it is tested in a laboratory, with results taking at least 24 hours to come through.

But there was chaos after some staff were turned away despite being told to attend by employers, The Times reports.

There were also just six cars admitted in the first hours – causing huge queues to snake around residential streets.

IKEA opened the testing site yesterday and is now hoping their other locations could be used as Covid-19 testing points.

A spokesperson said: "Today, a drive-through NHS Covid-19 test centre has opened in the car park of our Wembley store.

"We are incredibly proud that we are able to support the government and the NHS in this small way, and are working with them to identify any additional sites that could also support the national effort.”

IKEA has also donated food to local hospitals, food banks, and shelters during the crisis.

The site is one of many that has opened up across the UK to help get vital NHS workers back on the frontline.

Chessington World of Adventures last week set up facilities to test NHS workers for coronavirus, with nurses taking swabs through car windows.

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It comes after it was revealed around a quarter of frontline NHS staff were off last week because of coronavirus – heaping more pressure on ministers to hurry up and roll out testing for every nurse and doctor.

Medics have warned that London is already being swamped by a “tsunami” of Covid-19 cases which risks overwhelming the capital.

The growing army of medics forced to stay home amid fears they are infected heaps yet more pressure on hospitals.

NHS England's chief executive Sir Simon Stevens has said they will be able to double the number of coronavirus tests it has available for staff by the end of this week.

It was announced last week that around 800 samples would be processed over the weekend at the first of three new hub laboratories set up by the Government for the duration of the crisis.

He said: "NHS staff are affected just like people across the country as a whole and so we are seeing staff who are doing the right thing and having to self-isolate at home.

"That's one of the reasons why it's so important that we are ramping up staff testing, but it's also why it's so vital that all of us take the medical advice and stay at home."

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