Second pub in seaside town shuts days after restaurant and vape bar close after coronavirus super spreader went boozing
A SECOND pub in a seaside town has closed – just days after a boozing super spreader caused a nearby vape bar and restaurant to shut.
The Somerset and Dorset pub in Burnham-on-Sea followed the Lighthouse Inn in closing its doors after one of its punters tested positive for coronavirus.
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The Somerset and Dorset said anyone who has visited since Saturday needing to be tested will be contacted by NHS Track and Trace.
In a Facebook post, the pub wrote: "Due to information received regarding a customer testing positive for Covid-19 we are shutting, deep cleaning and getting tested.
"We are shut from tonight."
The pub added it would be allowed to reopen once it has had a deep clean.
BURNHAM SUPER SPREADER
It comes less than a week after one infected reveller spread the bug around the town.
He was drinking at the Lighthouse Inn, one of several English pubs to have to shut after customers later tested positive.
Also drinking in the Lighthouse Inn was an Indian restaurant delivery driver, whose bosses closed their premises when they got the news.
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It is thought the drinker showed no symptoms and had been in the beer garden at the pub in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset.
It is unclear whether the Somerset and Dorset's closure is related to last Saturday's super spreader.
The Sun Online has approached the pub for comment.
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Matt Hancock praised pubs which had closed for public safety for “doing the right thing by their customers and by their communities”.
He said: “This is NHS Test and Trace working precisely as intended. Three pubs shut so that others can be open.”
The Lighthouse Inn had been open just two days before it was forced to close.
Bosses at Saagar Indian, also in Burnham-on-Sea, said: “It saddens us to tell you all that due to unforeseen circumstances, we are closing Saagar Indian takeaway up until Friday.
“This is because one of the drivers has been in the same pub as the person who has tested positive to Covid-19.
“This decision was not made easily. However during these tough times everybody’s health is the number one priority.”
Nearby Vape Escape also shut its doors but later reopened after a thorough deep clean.
Its owner, Leanne Underhill, said: “It wasn’t the re-opening we had planned.
"We were informed on Sunday that a customer who had visited us had tested positive.
“All of our staff have been tested and have come back negative. All customers have been informed, in line with government guidance.
“We have been following all the safety guidelines and, because we took the names and numbers of customers as they entered the bar, all have been contacted.”
Lighthouse Inn manager Jess Green said: “The man who tested positive has done the right thing in informing the businesses that he attended so we can inform customers and get everyone tested.”
Thousands of boozers in England reopened their doors on Saturday following months of lockdown.
The Fox and Hounds, in Batley, West Yorks, and the Village Home, in Alverstoke, Hants, also closed following positive cases for the virus.
A post on the Village Home's Facebook page said: "On Sunday morning a member of staff was informed that someone in their family bubble had tested positive, they immediately went for a test.
"On Monday this test was confirmed as positive despite neither of them showing any symptoms."
All other staff tested negative, but some remain in self isolation.
Alog of all customers was kept and is now with Track and Trace/PHE, the post added.
Yesterday, the pub's landlord Robby Roberts told the BBC: "A member of staff, one of my barmaids, has someone in her family bubble who has tested positive.
"All five staff who were on shift on Saturday have now been tested and we are waiting for the results.
"The pub is being deep cleaned and I have contacted the council. I am awaiting advice from them."
He said she was working on Saturday when the pub opened for 11-and-a-half hours, with 150 customers visiting.
Meanwhile, police in Durham closed the Number One Bar in Darlington and The Wheatsheaf pub in Chilton, County Durham, after officers decided drunk punters could not follow social distancing.
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