Pingdemic: Clevedon pub closed for Covid will 'take years' to recover

Tracey Morgan said it felt like the pub was starting again from scratch after a Covid-enforced closure

A pub that had to close down for 10 days because staff were required to isolate will take years to fully recover, says its manager.

Tracey Morgan said The Old Inn, Clevedon, north Somerset, lost out on thousands of pounds when it was affected by the so-called 'pingdemic'.

"It was dreadful. It's like we're now starting again from scratch," she said.

As of Monday, double-jabbed people and under-18s do not have to isolate if they come into contact with a case.

The Old Inn closed its doors for 10 days in July when several staff and the owners had to isolate after being 'pinged' by the NHS Covid app.

"We lost sales, we lost thousands of pounds and we had to throw out loads of food, it was dreadful," Ms Morgan continued.

"It's going to take us years to get back to where we were I think because we were at a point where everything was good, staffing levels were high, turnover was great, and all of a sudden this hit us so it's like we're now starting again from scratch," she added

Before the new rules came into force from Monday, the UK government had previously said that while it recognised the issues faced by pubs and bars, self-isolation was an essential tool in efforts to reduce the spread of Covid-19.

Owner of Ray's Ice Cream in Swindon, Hadi Brooks, said many of her staff were young students and had not yet been offered a second jab

Meanwhile, owner of Ray's Ice Cream in Swindon's old town, Hadi Brooks, has also had to cope with disruption.

"It's been one of the most worrying times business-wise in the whole of this pandemic. It's the risk that staff are going to 'down' at any minute with pretty much no notice, which makes running two shops quite tricky.

"We had two who were self-isolating at the same time a couple of weeks ago and out of nine across two shops that's a massive proportion of my team, so I was making contingency plans for if we lose more.

"There's a huge element of luck involved and we'll just keep our fingers crossed for the best," she said.