Asda store shuts as eight test positive

EIGHT workers at an Asda supermarket have tested positive for coronavirus after complaints that shoppers were allowed in without masks.

Locals claimed that the Cape Hill store in Smethwick, West Midlands, was overcrowded and some customers had refused to wear a face covering.

Asda had already announced at a national level that its staff would not ‘police’ the mask rules.

The company said yesterday that the infected staff members from Cape Hill were now self-isolating, no local delivery drivers had tested positive and the risk to the public was low.

The shop was closed for a deep clean following the outbreak but was open again yesterday.

One customer wrote on Facebook: ‘They were very good at the start of the outbreak but I think they must be worn down by the anarchic behaviour some of their customers have shown.’

Coronavirus rates in Sandwell, the local council, are among the highest in Britain at 25.3 cases per 100,000.

Director of public health, Dr Lisa McNally said the current high local infection rates meant all businesses had to be especially careful to maintain social distancing and ‘ensure face coverings are worn’.

■ EIGHT more workers have tested positive at the Banham Poultry factory in Attleborough, Norfolk, bringing the total to 104 cases.