JD Wetherspoon reveals 66 staff test positive for coronavirus after pubs reopen

JD Wetherspoon has revealed that 66 employees have tested positive for coronavirus since it reopened its pubs in July but insisted that its venues are safe.

The pub chain said many of the cases were mild or asymptomatic, and that 28 members of staff have returned to work after self-isolating. 

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The company, which employs 41,564 people, announced the levels of coronavirus among its workers as it sought to reassure the public that pubs are safe places to visit. 

Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin said that pubs and other hospitality businesses should not be closed in a second lockdown.

Martin said: “If pubs are closed, or restricted so much that they become unprofitable, a great deal of the strenuous effort of the hospitality industry’s 3.2m employees, currently engaged on upholding hygiene and social distancing standards, will be lost – leaving the public to socialise at home or elsewhere, in unsupervised circumstances.”

The pub chain has invested £15m on installing social distancing and hygiene measures, with Martin insisting that socialising in pubs is safer than at home. 

He dismissed claims by Aberdeen University professor Hugh Pennington, who said that reopening pubs was more risky than sending children back to school. 

It comes as the number of coronavirus cases in the UK continues to rise, with a further 3,330 cases confirmed yesterday.

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“The data we have shows that the infection rate has risen, mainly due to social interactions, particularly private household gatherings,” Martin said.

“In shops and hospitality venues there are strict measures in place to ensure they are Covid-free, whereas it is much easier to inadvertently pass on the virus in someone’s house, where people are more relaxed and less vigilant.”