Doctors at 10 Belgian hospitals where a quarter of medical staff are off sick with COVID-19 have been asked to keep working even if they have coronavirus.

According to a BBC report, the request comes amid a surge in cases and hospital admissions.

Ten hospitals in the Belgian city of Liège have requested that staff who have tested positive but do not have symptoms keep working. The head of the Belgian Association of Medical Unions, Dr Philippe Devos, told the BBC they had no choice if they were to prevent the hospital system collapsing within days.

He acknowledged that there was an obvious risk of transferring the virus to patients.

One in three people tested in Liège are coming back positive with the virus and hospitals are transferring patients elsewhere, cancelling non-urgent surgeries.

Belgium is experiencing one of the worst second waves of the epidemic in the world and one of the deadliest outbreaks per capita.

Among others, Belgian Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmes, who was caretaker prime minister during the first wave of the coronavirus, has been admitted to intensive care, officials said Thursday.

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