Only 226 Covid outbreaks linked to pubs and restaurants in whole pandemic – but they STILL have to stay shut

found the chance of contracting the virus in hospitality settings appeared slightly higher than in gyms or shops.

However, it concluded the risk was still small.

Just 226 outbreaks had occurred in pubs in restaurants across England since the coronavirus pandemic took a hold of the nation.

Despite this, the sector had been heavily penalised throughout the Government’s Covid response.

The data, which was gathered up to February, noted the number of clusters rose to 343 when fast food outlets, bars, and cafes were included.

The paper read:  “Overall, data suggest that the hospitality sector, compared to leisure and retail sectors seems to be associated with greater risk of transmission.

“But, overall, population attributable fractions (fraction of all cases in a population that is attributable to the setting) associated with transmission in hospitality, retail and leisure are relatively low."

The Prime Minister's four-step plan to ease lockdown in England finally brought - in part - the long-awaited return of the hospitality industry on April 12.

Pubs and restaurants reopened for outdoor service on April 12, when punters flocked to beer gardens and outdoor dining areas at cafes and restaurants, enjoying pints, coffees and food alike.

Indoor service would return on May 17, when pubs, restaurants, cafes and bars would be allowed to welcome customers indoors.

The SAGE analysis suggested fully opening up the hospitality sector would have flow-on effects, which could have a detrimental impact on the wider spread of the virus.

“It is difficult to ascertain the individual contribution of these sectors to the overall transmission rates as they are closely linked to other activities and occupations, such as warehouses, delivery workers, food production, transport,” the analysis read.

“Once hospitality and retail services are open, it leads to greater mixing and mobility across the population.”

The findings could raise questions about why indoor hospitality remains closed for another three weeks - despite Covid infection numbers being at record lows.

However, experts have said closing hospitality is crucial to preventing indoor mixing, which is said to be the biggest driver of Covid spread.

There are also suspicions that outbreaks in the sector could appear extremely low because so many venues have had their doors shut for months on end. 

The analysis draws on data from a number of national surveillance studies, run by the Office for National Statistics and Public Health England, as well as pulling figured from the centralised contact tracing system.