In Northwich, a surge in coronavirus cases was confirmed after a pub closed its doors and said the outbreak was due to “a member of the public” who stayed one night.
In a post on Facebook, The Quayside Pub on Witton Street confirmed that they had decided to temporarily close to protect employees and customers.
Another post said that a member of the public “walked into a number of restaurants in Northwich” over the weekend of May 22nd, including The Quayside.
On Friday evening (May 28), Cheshire West and Chester Council said there had been an outbreak “related to a pub” and positive cases in the area were “on the rise”.
A message posted on Quayside’s Facebook page reads: “We would like to inform all of our dear customers that as a company, due to the rise in COVID in Northwich this week, we have unfortunately made the tough decision to close our doors to everyone our employees have carried out a PCR test and we have completely disinfected our premises.
“This is a heartbreaking decision to make for all companies after the toughest year, but we must protect all of our employees and customers as safety comes first.
“We’ll all let you know when we open again and hope to see you this holiday weekend.”
Another statement on the Facebook page said the pub would remain closed until all staff had PCR tests.
It said, “We now have confirmation that a member of the public walked into a number of restaurants in Northwich over the weekend, including Quayside.
“ALL of our employees have weekly lateral flow tests, but we have decided ourselves to close our doors until all employees have full PCR tests.
“The health and safety of all of our employees and customers is our top priority and we are doing everything we can to ensure that the spread is minimal.”
CheshireLive estimates that there are currently up to 20 cases of coronavirus linked to the “superspreader” in town on the evening of May 22nd.
In a social media post on Friday (May 28), Cheshire West and Chester Council asked people who were “out and about” in Northwich that evening to take a PCR test.
It said, “Did you go out in Northwich last Saturday? We recommend anyone who is in town on Saturday evening, May 22nd, to get a PCR test.
“There has been a pub-related outbreak and positive cases in the area are increasing.”
Here are the latest stories from the CheshireLive newsletter
Would you like to sign up to have these stories delivered straight to your inbox? It’s free, and it means you’ll never miss the most important Cheshire news of the day
Here you can sign up
Not registered yet, but want to try it out?
You can read a preview of today’s newsletter here