ON MONDAY Newport landlady Nicola Birch received the call every business owner dreads - one of her customers had tested positive for Covid-19.

The customer had returned from abroad on Thursday, without the need to isolate, and visited the Friendly Fox in Caerphilly Rod, Bassaleg, on Friday evening.

After feeling unwell over the weekend, the woman found out she had coronavirus, and immediately informed the pub.

Determined to not let the news stop the pub’s post-lockdown momentum after a brilliant response to the Eat Out To Help Out government scheme, Ms Birch immediately got to work and closed the pub to carry out a deep clean.

“To be fair to her she rang on Monday and let us know everything about what had happened,” she said. “It all worked quite seamlessly. We put the post up on social media and rang everyone who had been in the pub at the time the customer was here.”

The case, Ms Birch says, is a perfect example of why it’s important public venues follow government guidance and record each customer’s contact details.

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“We closed on Monday to deep clean the whole place and make sure we’re as Covid-proof as we can be,” she added.

“All staff have had to go for tests and we are awaiting those results. It’s tested us but we’re pleased with how we’ve responded.

“I have reflected on what we could have done and we couldn’t have done any more. We are operating a table service only and a maximum of six people per each party.”

Ms Birch also thanked the community for their response on social media.

“The support has been fantastic before and after this incident, and I don’t think it will do us all any harm to remember that this virus is still very much here, and we must all be really careful.

“The food trade for us has really picked up with Eat Out To Help Out, and we’re sad that’s ending. We’ll be offering something new in September in terms of a food discount, although we haven’t yet decided what that will look like.”

She added that the woman with the virus was “devastated, but she couldn't known", and said the staff wish her a quick recovery.