THE VIRUS IN BRIEF
THE boss of Wetherspoon has told staff to get a supermarket job after the pub chain was forced to shut its doors because of coronavirus.
In a video, Tim Martin told 40,000 workers that they should take up offers for other jobs at retailers such as Tesco after all 850 pubs closed.
He said: “If you’re offered a job… if you think it’s a good idea, do it.
“We have had lots of calls from supermarkets, Tesco alone want 20,000 people to join them.
“That’s half the amount of people who work in our pubs.”
CHINA is promoting a coronavirus treatment made from bear bile despite the disease’s links to wildlife, British conservationists claimed yesterday.
The country’s National Health Commission has included injections of Tan Re Qing, or TRQ, on an official list of recommended treatments.
The traditional Chinese medicine is down as a treatment for “severe” and “critical” cases, said London-based Environmental Investigation Agency.
Bile from bears’ gallbladders is the product of a barbaric industry in which the creatures are crammed for years into tiny cages.
EIA China Specialist Aron White said: “There could be no better time to end the use of the parts of threatened wildlife in medicine.”
THE UK’s youngest MP has returned to her previous job at a retirement village.
Nadia Whittome, 23, was back yesterday at Lark Hill Retirement Village, Nottingham, where she worked for just under two years providing personal care.
The MP for Nottingham East said: “I really worry after this [coronavirus] Bill that we are going to be plunged into a deeper crisis.
“I’m worried it is going to mean that the social care system is going to fall apart at the seams – so I’m pitching in.”
PUBS are running secret prohibitionstyle lock-ins to dodge the coronavirus ban, licensing chiefs fear.
Shameless landlords are contacting regulars to arrange the illicit “speakeasy” meet-ups behind closed curtains – in flagrant breach of the Government’s shutdown.
Pubs, cafes and restaurants were closed by the PM last week to help stop the spread of the killer bug.
While the majority of publicans shut up shop, some watering holes remained open over the weekend in scenes reminiscent of the 1920s American booze ban.
Three venues in Kidderminster, Worcs, are being probed over allegations they opened in defiance.
Some pubs abiding by the rules are offering takeaway or delivery services.