A Covid hoaxer who was fined £200 after claiming hospital wards were "empty" has issued a statement on Facebook.

Hannah Dean posed as a journalist to gain entry to several hospitals before sharing photos on social media of quiet corridors and claiming the government was "lying" about the pandemic.

But the 30-year-old fitness instructor was taking pictures of areas which were not on the frontline in the fight against the virus. 

The mother-of-two's Facebook account has been heavily criticised by the NHS for the post, in which she urged people to go along to hospitals and film their own videos.

Yesterday, police said they had fined Ms Dean £200. 

News Shopper: One of Hannah Dean's social media postsOne of Hannah Dean's social media posts

Hours later, she told her Facebook followers that she had gone about things "very different".

She said: "The NHS have not reached their capacity level! There are areas that appear to be under pressure due to the fact that a large number of staff have tested positive against one of the coronavirus types that the test detects.

"The way I have gone about things is very different from how the the media have claimed.

"How busy are the NHS compared to any other year during flu season? Now bare in mind that a lot of staff are isolating because they have been tested positive for a coronavirus. The PCR tests work by detecting genetic matter from coronavirus’s, using amplification cycles."

Her statement, which we have not published in full, goes against what medical professionals have been saying.

Police said Ms Dean's claims had been causing “angst in the community”.

The photos of corridors were claimed to be taken at the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth, Hampshire, Southampton General hospital, the Princess Royal University hospital near Bromley, Kent, and St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester, West Sussex.

Portsmouth Police said in a Facebook post: “Some of you will have seen the reports of persons attending local hospitals, taking photos of parts of the hospital that are not on the front line in the fight against Covid-19, and using the images to suggest hospitals are not being stretched.

“These actions have caused angst in the community, and have prompted a number of calls to us reporting the posts.

“We have identified the source of the posts and have today issued a fixed penalty notice to the person responsible under the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Regulations 2020.

“Our colleagues across the NHS are working flat out to fight this virus, and we are all grateful for their continued efforts. There has been lots of publicity this weekend about us all doing our bit to stick to the rules and guidelines to support our NHS – we urge each and everyone of you to do the same.”