South Shields pub forced to close its doors temporarily as 'large number' of staff self-isolate

The County on Sunderland Road missed out on hosting fans for England’s historic Euro 2020 final on Sunday due to a ‘large number’ of staff needing to self-isolate.

The pub made the difficult decision to close its doors to punters on Friday, July 10 because of the Covid-related staffing shortage and remains closed at this time.

A statement on the pub’s Facebook page said: “Due to a large number of our staff needing to self-isolate we regretfully do not have enough staff to currently trade safely.”

It has not yet been confirmed when the pub is due to reopen its doors again but the venue said it hoped to be serving customers again ‘very shortly.’

A spokesman for The County, said: “It has been great to be serving guests again, and since reopening we have been following the stringent Covid-secure protocols we successfully introduced at the pub last year.

“Unfortunately, following the return of positive Covid-19 tests within the team and with other members being instructed to self-isolate by NHS Test & Trace, we have closed the pub for a short time as a precautionary measure.

“The safety of our guests and our team, who are taking part in the twice weekly Covid-19 lateral flow testing programme, is our highest priority and we are working closely with our safety experts to ensure this.

“We have notified all guests who booked with us that we are closed and will update guests going forward.

“We’re sorry for any disappointment this has caused, but we’d like to thank our guests and our team for their support shown and we look forward to welcoming you back soon.”

The closure comes as coronavirus case rates in South Tyneside remain the highest in the country driven by the more transmissible Delta variant.

Latest figures released on Monday, July 12, show South Tyneside had 2,052 new cases in the seven days to July 8, the equivalent of 1,359.2 per 100,000 people.

This is up sharply from 691.5 in the seven days to July 1.

The borough’s high case rate has sparked a warning from Tom Hall, director of public health at South Tyneside Council, who has urged everyone to ‘do their bit’ to curb the spread.

Mr Hall said: "The Covid vaccines have been shown to be highly effective, so we are doing all we can to encourage people to get both doses.

"By getting vaccinated, people are doing right by themselves and their communities.

“We are also encouraging people to continue to follow the public health guidance around hands, face, space and fresh air – even beyond July 19.

"Each and every one of us needs to take personal responsibility to follow the guidance and avoid making it easy for the virus to spread."

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