Government announces hospitality venues in Bolton must revert to takeaway only in new restrictions
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has announced that all hospitality venues are being restricted to take away only in Bolton as part of new measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the town.
He told MPs in the House of Commons this afternoon.
Mr Hancock said: “Unfortunately after improving for several weeks, we’ve seen a very significant rise in cases in Bolton. Bolton is up to 120 cases per 100,000 of population, the highest case rate in the country and I’m publishing the data behind the decisions that we’ve taken.
“I must therefore tell that House that, working with the local council, we’re taking further local action.
“The rise in cases in Bolton is partly due to socialising by people in their 20s and 30s. We know this from contact tracing, and through our contacting tracing system, we’ve identified a number of pubs at which the virus has spread significantly.
“We’re therefore taking the following action in Bolton starting immediately.
“We will restrict all hospitality to takeaways-only and we’ll introduce a late-night restriction of operating hours which will mean all venues will be required to close from 10pm to 5am.
“We’ll introduce urgently further measures that put the current guidance that people cannot socialise outside their household into law.”
Mr Hancock then went on to say local lockdown action has worked in Leicester and Luton, but further action is needed in Bolton.
New restrictions will be put in place:
- Restrict all hospitality to take-away only.
- All venues must close from 10pm to 5am.
- No socialising outside households will be put into law.
This is a Breaking News story – More to follow.