Covid-19: Stone like a 'ghost town' following outbreak

Trade in a town affected by a coronavirus outbreak "fell like a stone" over the weekend.

One restaurant said 17 people who had booked for a meal on Saturday evening did not turn up, while residents reported it being quiet elsewhere.

Some pubs had closed voluntarily following the outbreak in Stone, Staffordshire.

Nineteen people have tested positive for Covid-19 after cases were linked to the Crown and Anchor pub in the town.

About 1,000 people have now been tested after health officials set up mobile units.

Ed Stant, secretary of traders group Stone Is Where The Heart Is, said trade had been beginning to pick up since the lockdown but over the weekend "for the vast majority it's fallen like a stone."

Mr Stant had a meal in the town on Saturday night and said by closing time there was only his table and one other still there.

"Everywhere other than local Wetherspoons had closed, it was like a ghost town," he said.

He said at one restaurant, Little Seeds, 17 people out of 34 who had booked tables did not turn up on Saturday night. The venue also posted about it on Facebook, prompting many comments.

Traders urged people to still shop in the town. Everyone is working hard to keep the town safe, Mr Stant said.

The mobile testing unit, which has now left the town, was set up after the county council said some cases of coronavirus had been linked to the Crown and Anchor public house over the weekend of 18 July.

Staffordshire Police said it visited the pub on 18 July and the early hours of 19 July over social distancing concerns. The pub has closed its doors.

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