Bar owner fears system not working properly
STAFF at a Port Talbot bar say they are “saddened” after a coronavirus outbreak caused them to close days before the firebreak lockdown.
But joint owner Tyler Pascoe has raised concerns about the test, trace and protect system, claiming staff and customers who had been at Bar Gallois had not been contacted, as far as he was aware.
Bookings at the bar between Tuesday just gone and this Friday have now been cancelled and staff have been working their way through the list to let everyone know
The 25-year-old said: “A member of staff tested positive and went into isolation. She was tested on October 13 and had been isolating since then.
“The day we found out she was positive, on October 17, we checked to see which staff had been in contact with her and they also got tested and isolated.
“On Tuesday we got the results back and two more staff members tested positive. We closed because we had so many staff selfisolating that we wouldn’t be able to run the bar and kitchen.”
Mr Pascoe claimed that since the first member of staff had tested positive, customers and other staff members had told him they had not been contacted by test, trace and protect.
The scheme, overseen by Public Health Wales (PHW) and operated by local authorities, is aimed at getting in touch with close contacts of people who have tested positive so they can, if necessary, be told to self-isolate.
Mr Pascoe said: “We’ve tried our best to get hold of track and trace, but we can’t get hold of them.
“We did a Facebook post to get the message out there ourselves. They say they haven’t heard anything [from track and trace] at all.
“When we went for tests, we had to tell them where we worked and we still haven’t heard anything. It feels like there is a massive flaw in the system.”
Mr Pascoe said staff at the bar said they had tried their best to look after customers since opening and their experience with track and trace had been disappointing.
He said: “We have done everything by the law through this pandemic. We had staff coming in early to make sure everything was disinfected.
“We’ve called the local authority and NHS and keep getting passed between the two.”
Neath Port Talbot Council and Public Health Wales have been approached for comment.