Coronavirus outbreak in Staffordshire linked to bingo event

Silverdale Working Men's Club is currently closed after a number of people who had visited tested positive for Covid-19

A bingo night at a Staffordshire working men's club has been linked to 13 positive coronavirus cases.

In the days that followed, bingo players visited at least seven other venues. Officials have urged people who went to any to take Covid-19 tests.

Pubs The Bush; The Vine; The George & Dragon; The Kiln; and The Roebuck; along with Newcastle Working Men's Club and restaurant Bilash were named.

Meanwhile Stoke-on-Trent's case rise saw it added to a Covid watchlist.

The bingo session at Silverdale Working Men's Club took place on 16 August, and Staffordshire County Council said patrons who were at the Silverdale club unknowingly went on to these other places in the Newcastle-under-Lyme area while they were potentially infectious.

All who have tested positive for Covid-19 are now isolating.

Premier Foods said it was confident it had taken all necessary steps to protect teams

Stoke-on-Trent has now been identified by Public Health England (PHE) as an "area of concern" as the number of new virus cases increased by 15, with six cases confirmed at Premier Foods.

Council leader Abi Brown said being added to the PHE watchlist was "to be expected" after a spike in cases and that the city needed to be "extra vigilant".

A Premier Foods spokesperson said: "We have seen a very small number of colleagues test positive for Covid-19 at our Stoke factory, reflective of an increase in cases in the wider Stoke-on-Trent/Newcastle-under-Lyme area.

"As a result, we have introduced further protective measures on site, in addition to our already stringent hygiene and safety procedures."

It has also been confirmed there is a link between one of the cases from the Silverdale Working Men's Club outbreak and Premier Foods.

Drinkers at several pubs in the Newcastle-under-Lyme area are being urged to get tested

"Through our ongoing contact tracing we have identified that cases linked to [the Silverdale club] outbreak have visited a number of venues whilst infectious," Dr Richard Harling, Staffordshire County Council's director of health and care, said.

"It is important that everyone who attended these venues on the specified dates gets a test."

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He said more than 300 people had already been checked and the authority was planning extra testing facilities over the weekend.

The council said the outbreak "could have been a lot worse" and the seven venues "do appear to have been following the national guidance".

As such, the authority has not moved to close the pubs, men's club or restaurant and they can remain open.

Stoke-on-Trent recorded 15 new coronavirus cases on Thursday

Six of the new cases reported in Stoke-on-Trent are from the Normacot area, where an outbreak was linked to a handful of streets earlier this month.

Latest figures from PHE do show a slight drop in the rate of infections - there are now 19.5 cases per 100,000 people, down from 26.5 last week - however council leader Abi Brown said there was "no room for complacency".

"Being named nationally as an area of concern is serious," she continued.

"It reinforces the need for us all to be extra vigilant against this horrible disease."

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