THREE members of staff from Maidenhead Inn pub in Basingstoke are currently self-isolating at home with coronavirus symptoms, Wetherspoon has confirmed.

A spokesperson for Wetherspoon said: “Wetherspoon is not aware of any confirmed cases of Covid-19 amongst staff or customers at the Maidenhead Inn. Three employees are currently self-isolating after developing symptoms.  We understand that one of the employees has had a test and is awaiting the results and the other two employees have not yet been tested.”

A source, who wishes to remain anonymous, told The Gazette that one member of staff at the pub, on Winchester Street, was sent home from work on Monday, and asked to sanitize all surfaces they had come into contact with before leaving. 

According to the source, the staff member, who was experiencing shortness of breath and loss of taste, then discovered that a second employee was also off with the same symptoms, and believes the other employees are unaware.

Both staff members are isolating for 10 days, but cannot currently get tests due to an ongoing shortage in appointment availability.

The Maidenhead Inn currently remains open to customers.

“I want the public to know that just because the pubs are open, it doesn’t mean they are safe,” said the source. 

The Wetherspoon spokesperson said: “The company operates a robust Test and Trace system allowing customers to register their details using either a paper-based system or via a digital QR system on their mobile phones. 

“Wetherspoon requires each customer or group of customers to register their Test and Trace details on every visit to a pub. Service will be refused to customers unless they comply with the requirement to provide Test and Trace information.

“Since reopening, staff are conducting regular surface cleaning and numerous hand sanitisers have been installed in each pub. The operating procedures and hygiene practices implemented by the company means that all hand contact points are frequently cleaned and sanitised throughout the day. In addition, pubs are thoroughly cleaned at the end of every trading day.

“In addition, Wetherspoon has implemented a number of social distancing measures in all its pubs. These include; reduced capacity levels, the spacing out of tables, the installation of a number of floor screens between tables and the addition of till-surround screens to the bar.”

It comes after Wetherspoon revealed earlier this week that 66 positive coronavirus cases have been recorded among its 41,564 employees since the pubs reopened. 

Speaking about the drop in income experienced last weekend, founder of the chain Tim Martin said that he believes the safety of pubs during the pandemic has been “widely misunderstood”.

“Trade was very quiet over the weekend, as the public weighed up the evidence about the alleged dangers of going out – Wetherspoon sales were 22.5% below the equivalent Saturday last year,” he said.

“It is clearly not the case that pubs are ‘dangerous places to be’.

“There have been more positive cases at one farm in Hereford than at all Wetherspoon pubs – and over four times as many at one sandwich-making facility in Northampton.”