A SPREADSHEET error that resulted in nearly 16,000 new cases of coronavirus going unreported last week was described as “shambolic” and “scandalous” today.

According to Public Health England (PHE), a master Excel spreadsheet had reached its maximum capacity and, as a result, the recording process stopped automatically adding names of those testing positive to the database.

PHE said that 15,841 cases in total between September 25 and October 2 had not been counted in the daily toll.