Covid: Pubs must follow rules about contact tracing for the good of us all – Steve Cardownie

If a pub fails to record my contact details – to help me from passing on the virus to other people – I’ll take my business elsewhere, writes Steve Cardownie.

Some pubs and restaurants are taking their responsibilities over Covid seriously - and those are the ones that Steve Cardownie will visit (Picture: John Devlin)

Just after pubs and restaurants were given the green light to reopen, I commented on the different interpretations that some bars were applying to the regulations laid down by the Scottish Government and it would appear that there is still an element of diversification surrounding the application of the required do’s and don’ts.

On some occasions I have witnessed bar staff serving “walk up” customers at their tables without any attempt to ascertain any contact details whatsoever.

In others, a booking is required, on arrival the customer’s temperature is taken, contact details meticulously noted and the rules of the bar spelled out, leaving no room for doubt that the “new normal” has been applied.

It is patently obvious that if an infected person has visited a bar then all who may have been in at the time should be contacted, not just for their own sakes but to prevent them from perhaps infecting others, including family members.

I just don’t buy into this reluctance to participate in this scheme by some pub-goers who invariably cite the “Big Brother is watching you” argument as justification for evading the process.

I, for one, would insist that my contact details were recorded and, if not, take my business elsewhere.

Chocs away

I got some sad news from the Nestlé factory yesterday. A friend of mine was crushed beneath a case of chocolate that fell of the storage racking. He repeatedly called for help but every time he shouted “the Milky Bars are on me” the rest of the workers just cheered.

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