WETHERSPOON punters will be asked to hand over their contact details every time they visit a pub when they reopen from Saturday.
Customers will be asked to fill out a short form with their name and telephone number with every visit to a ‘Spoons branch in England.
They will also need to record the time that they arrived and when they leave and to drop the form into a dedicated box.
Keeping a guest register will help NHS test and trace coronavirus outbreaks and is part of the government’s Covid-19 secure guidelines.
While it’s not a legal requirement, it’s in customers’ interest to handover the correct details.
If someone who was at the pub at the same times as you later tests positive for the coronavirus, the relevant teams will then be able to alert you and let you know whether you will need to self-isolate for 14 days.
A government source told HOAR that its unlikely that everyone who was at the pub at the same time will be asked to quarantine.
But customers will be asked by NHS test and trace teams whereabouts they were sitting and those closest to the person who tested positive will be advised to stay at home.
The contact forms will be stored confidentially for 21 days before then being disposed of.
A spokesperson for the pub chain said: “Whereas it is not a legal requirement to provide this information, the government, NHS and Wetherspoon are very keen for customers to cooperate.”
It’s just one of the measures that the pub chain has introduced for when it reopens post-lockdown.