Pubs close days after reopening as punters test positive for coronavirus

Bars in England only welcomed back punters at the weekend after a lengthy lockdown which saw the hospitality sector shut since March.

But three establishments have since alerted their patrons that they have had to close again just days later, after cases of Covid-19.

The Lighthouse Kitchen and Carvery in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, said a customer had tested positive and it was making its way through a list of people who were in the bar on Saturday.

In a statement posted on Facebook, it added: ‘All our staff are going to be tested and we will reopen when the time is safe to do so.’

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The Fox and Hounds in Batley, West Yorkshire, said it would be closed until further notice after receiving a call from a customer on Monday to say they had tested positive for coronavirus.

Posting on its Facebook page, it said all staff had since taken a test and added that the pub will be ‘fully deep cleaned and when safe to do so we will reopen our doors’.

The Village Home Pub in Alverstoke, Gosport, said it had also ‘had a case of Coronavirus in the pub’, adding that ‘some of us are in isolation’.

Its statement on Facebook said: ‘The pub is now shut but all being well will open again on Saturday. Anyone who was in the pub over the weekend there is no need to isolate unless you show symptoms or are contacted direct by the trace group. Thank you and hope to see you soon.’