Wetherspoons Boss Tim Martin Demands Scientists Publish Evidence Of Pub Covid Outbreaks After Expert

 

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Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin has demanded scientists publish evidence of coronavirus transmission in pubs after an expert said drinking indoors in bars raised the risk of transmission.

Bacteria expert Professor Hugh Pennington said there has been a Covid-19 'outbreak associated with pubs' and for '90 per cent of cases, that was how they caught it.'

Mr Martin said just five of his 43,000 members of staff tested positive for the virus by the time lockdown measures were announced on March 20 - when 'the virus was rampant in the country'.

He added: 'There has been a handful of individual cases of positive tests for the virus in our pubs, but nothing, it appears, which could be described as an outbreak and there appears not to have been, up until now, a case of transmission from person to person among staff or from staff to customers or vice versa.

Wetherspoons reopened 750 of its pubs on July 4 while bringing in stringent safety measures to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Wetherspoons customers must use one entrance with a separate exit door where possible.

Entry and exit are marked out by floor stickers and/or barriers and door security will monitor the numbers entering and leaving to prevent overcrowding.

All of its pubs have screens at the tills and screened-off seating areas where it is not possible to separate the tables by two metres.

Employees have their temperatures taken on arrival for their shifts too, among other measures.

By Jemma Carr
08-12-2020
Source and complete article at: dailymail.co.uk