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Almost a third of coronavirus infections in the UK are spreading in pubs, cafes and restaurants, ministers warned.
About 30% of cases are contracted through “social interactions” in these places, according to evidence presented to MPs by England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty.
Revealing the figures to the BBC this morning, Business Minister Nadhim Zahawi said: “It is right that we take action with the local leadership, with the local public health teams, because they know their area better.”
Zahawi appeared to be referring to a briefing for 149 MPs last night, yet the data comes from a sample of just 400 cases.
It follows reports that pubs in the north of England could be ordered to close next week based on plans being made by Boris Johnson.
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Local leaders were infuriated that they were not consulted by Downing Street, while business owners told Metro.co.uk that having to close again could be ‘the death of a thousand cuts’.
Pubs and restaurants were allowed to reopen on July 4, as long as they could show they could follow “Covid safety” guidelines.
Laws were introduced last month requiring hospitality venues to record visitor details and for patrons to wear masks at all times, unless they are seated at their table.
Now all pubs and restaurants must display a QR code for the NHS Covid-19 contact tracing app, which was launched two weeks ago.
Boris Johnson has faced a rebellion by Conservative MPs over the ‘rule of six’ at social gatherings and the 10pm curfew for hospitality venues.
Ministers are set to vote on the curfew, the day after a three-level “traffic light” system for local closures is expected to be announced.
As more areas face the prospect of regional restrictions, Zahawi admitted that the rest of 2020 “will be a really difficult year economically.”
He added: ‘The direction of travel is still positive, it still has growth of more than 2%, but yet many, many companies, whether in the hotel and retail industry or aviation, are battling the coronavirus just like many other nations of the world. ‘
Today, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that the UK economy grew by 2.1% in August.
The GDP rise was less than half the 4.6% analysts expected and was a major slowdown from the 6.4% expansion in July.
Despite the evidence presented by Professor Whitty, the new contact tracing app has only sent out an alert about an outbreak in one location since its launch two weeks ago.
The Health Department said the system was still new and was not expected to be used frequently, but millions of people have already used it to check-in at bars and restaurants.
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