...and hospitality accounts for just 3% of outbreaks

HOSPITALITY venues facing ‘hugely damaging’ restrictions accounted for less than 3 per cent of coronavirus outbreaks in the month before the second lockdown – with one region reporting just a single incident.

Public Health England figures show that just 128 of 4,687 outbreaks across England in the four weeks to the end of October were linked to bars, cafes, pubs and restaurants.

Last night, furious industry leaders said the figures showed that the evidence for punitive measures against hospitality businesses was ‘extremely poor and incredibly thin’.

One pub industry boss said: ‘They have lost all credibility. The evidence clearly demonstrates the hospitality industry is not a factor in the spread of the disease. PHE’s own analysis backs this up.’

Separately, a government paper published at the end of November justifying hospitality restrictions referred to studies in South-East Asia, but made no assessment of the £500 million measures implemented by British venues to make themselves Covid-secure. British Beer and Pub Association chief executive Emma McClarkin said: ‘ This so- called evidence is extremely poor and incredibly thin. Comparing British pubs with South Korean nightclubs is ridiculous.’

Simon Emeny, chief executive of Fuller’s, said: ‘The Government has decided to sacrifice the hospitality sector to allow other sectors to open with no scientific justification.’