Covid: Reading quarantine Pentahotel to shut

More than 44 positive cases have been identified at Pentalhotel in Oxford Road, Reading

A quarantine hotel in Reading at the centre of a "significant" Covid-19 outbreak will close, according to health officials.

They said Penta Hotels has told the government it will stop acting as a quarantine site in the next few weeks.

Reading's council called for the closure of the hotel after the virus spread among staff and the community.

Penta Hotels confirmed the closure. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has been approached for comment.

Earlier this month Reading Borough Council said the DHSC-run quarantine facility in Oxford Road needed to "urgently close" as there were 44 positive cases among residents and staff.

It also said it was "unconvinced" the outbreak was under control or robust safety measures were in place.

It added the majority of the positive cases had been identified as the Delta variant, first identified in India, by Public Health England (PHE), and it was believed at least three cases in community were directly linked to the hotel.

Guests, who have all returned from red-list countries, also criticised the conditions at the hotel.

Penta Hotels confirmed in a statement the quarantine-managed facility will close as of 30 June in line with the contract length initially agreed with DHSC.

The hotel operator said following the closure it will be deep cleaned in preparation for welcoming back regular customers at an unconfirmed date.

It added it followed security guidelines set out by the DHSC.

The DHSC previously denied the council's request to close it and described the hotel as a "small localised outbreak".

Reading is currently just one of many local authority areas in Berkshire where surge testing has been deployed due to concerns over the Delta variant.