Hundreds told to urgently get tested after coronavirus outbreak at Staffordshire pub

People wearing masks walk past the pub in Staffordshire
REUTERS
Imogen Braddick29 July 2020

Hundreds of people have been told to get tested after a coronavirus outbreak at a pub in Staffordshire.

The local council said it has "been made aware of a number of positive cases" among people who visited the Crown and Anchor in Stone between July 16-18.

At least 10 people who visited the pub have tested positive for coronavirus, the BBC reports.

A walk-in testing centre has been set up in a nearby car park and the council is urging anyone who visited the venue to get a test.

Anyone who might have been in close contact with visitors should also get a test, the council said, along with anyone who was drinking in Stone on the same weekend.

Pictures taken on Wednesday show queues of people lining up to be swabbed at the new testing centre.

It comes after a video circulating on social media earlier this month showed "at least 200" people packed into the pub's beer garden.

Ayrron Robinson, who lives opposite the pub and filmed the video from his window, said he was "very concerned" by the amount of visitors at the venue.

"With a bit of luck the virus won't have spread too far and turn into a big outbreak," he told the Mail.

The testing centre was set up after an outbreak at the pub
REUTERS

"If we do have to go into local lockdown then the pub has a lot to answer for."

The testing centre will be open from 10am-5pm until Friday and no appointment is needed.

Dr Richard Harling, the country council's director for public health, said: "As part of our outbreak control duties, we are dealing with an outbreak at the Crown and Anchor pub in Stone.

People queue up to be tested after the outbreak at the Crown and Anchor
REUTERS

"It is important that anyone drinking or working in the pub on that weekend gets tested as soon as possible, which is why we've organised for a mobile testing unit to be in the town all day tomorrow and Friday.

"We also want people who have been in close contact with anyone drinking in the pub on that weekend to get themselves tested, as well as people who were out and about in the town and are experiencing Covid-19 symptoms - namely a high temperature, new persistent cough or loss of taste and smell.

"It is also crucial that people self-isolate if they are told to do so."

The pub said it would be closed until next weekend due to an 'overwhelming' amount of visitors
REUTERS

Mr Harling added: "We're doing everything we can to prevent outbreaks and stop the virus from spreading.

"Residents can help by continuing to follow the rules to stop the spread of Covid-19 - washing hands regularly, keeping your distance, and wearing face coverings in shops and on public transport."

On Friday, the Crown and Anchor pub said it would be closing until next weekend due to the "overwhelming" number of visitors.

A statement on Facebook said: "Due to the overwhelming amount of people visiting the Crown and Anchor on Saturday, we have decided to close this weekend to be able to review our risk assessment in order to deal with the difficulty that we faced with social distancing.

"By saying that we are grateful and appreciative of all our customers and want to make it a safe environment for you when we reopen next weekend. We will be posting our updated guidelines."

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