Wetherspoons tills ringing will become intensive care ventilators beeping if people listen to Tim Martin – Andrew Vine

THE chairman of pub chain J D Wetherspoon, Tim Martin, sparked a furious online backlash after saying any move towards closing pubs to slow the spread of coronavirus would be “over the top”.
Tim Martin in a Wetherspoons pub.Tim Martin in a Wetherspoons pub.
Tim Martin in a Wetherspoons pub.
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Instead, he insisted pubs should stay open and drinkers continue using them, provided they maintain social distancing.

In all the debate, and worry, over the spread of this new and deadly infection, that day by day is claiming more lives and inexorably making rising numbers of people so gravely ill that they need hospital intensive care, Mr Martin’s views are probably the most misguided heard so far.

Tim Martin heads the Wetherspoons pub chain.Tim Martin heads the Wetherspoons pub chain.
Tim Martin heads the Wetherspoons pub chain.

Here are five reasons why he’s wrong.

1: His views fly the face of medical advice.

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Mr Martin undoubtedly knows how to run pubs, but being able to pull pints doesn’t qualify anybody to contradict the best medical and scientific advice Britain and the world has to offer.

There are many things that we don’t know about coronavirus, but one fact we know for certain is that this disease is spread by close contact. That is why the Government’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, and chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, have urged people to keep their distance.

Wetherspoons pubs owner Tim Martin (right) meets up with Brexit Party Parliamentary candidate for Hartlepool Richard Tice (left) during the 2019 election.Wetherspoons pubs owner Tim Martin (right) meets up with Brexit Party Parliamentary candidate for Hartlepool Richard Tice (left) during the 2019 election.
Wetherspoons pubs owner Tim Martin (right) meets up with Brexit Party Parliamentary candidate for Hartlepool Richard Tice (left) during the 2019 election.

This is the reason every person in Britain over the age of 70 has been advised to self-isolate, and the entire nation told to wash their hands frequently and thoroughly.

Pubs are the antithesis of both. Jostling at a bar to get served, or touching surfaces that have already had innumerable hands – quite possibly unwashed – on them make pubs the perfect place for coronavirus to spread.

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2: His views undermine the collective effort to beat coronavirus.

Every single one of us in Britain is a frontline soldier in the fight against this deadly disease.

It won’t be beaten by the NHS alone, however hard the doctors and nurses to whom we owe such a debt of gratitude work. Nor is there yet a vaccine, despite the best efforts of scientists across the world working flat out to develop one.

Only by the country working together, observing simple and straightforward precautions, can the spread of infection be slowed or stopped. We are engaged in a truly national effort that spans age, class and ethnic origin for the greater good.

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And that includes every drinker tempted to keep on putting their money across the bar at the local Wetherspoon. They need to embrace this national effort in order to save lives – possibly their own.

3: His views could increase the pressure on the NHS.

The pressure our health service is under is greater than at any time in its 72-year history. All non-urgent operations have been cancelled to free up beds, and a 65,000-strong cohort of retired doctors and nurses are about to be summoned back to active service.

We do not yet know how many will fall ill. If the rate of infection increases because people are contracting coronavirus in pubs, instead of staying at home, that could place an intolerable burden on the NHS.

Nor do we yet know how many NHS staff will become ill themselves, undermining the service’s ability to cope.

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It isn’t only the most senior advisers to the Prime Minister warning of this – it is front-line staff who are seeing what coronavirus does to their patients. They say follow the Government’s advice and stay away from pubs and restaurants. They’re right. Mr Martin is wrong.

4: His views could exacerbate a childcare problem.

Yesterday, the gates of schools closed behind 11m children. They, and their parents, have no idea when those schools will open again. It may be months before pupils are back in classrooms.

This is a logistical nightmare for millions of families, an indefinite break in which children will have to be looked after. It is made all the harder because so many grandparents who are mainstays of childcare after school, and during holidays, are having to self-isolate.

What none of them need is for coronavirus to be introduced into their family circle by somebody who has picked it up whilst downing pints in the pub. Who looks after the children then?

5: His views could be a factor in prolonging the epidemic.

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We want coronavirus over and done with as soon as possible, for the deaths and illness to cease.

We don’t want the ringing of Wetherspoons tills today to lead to more intensive care ventilators beeping tomorrow.

Britain’s people hope that Boris Johnson is right when he said that we may be on the way to winning the battle within 12 weeks. But that will only happen if all of us follow the advice we are given – and that means staying out of pubs, risking both our own health and that of other customers.

If we do that, Britain can put coronavirus behind it and breathe a sigh of relief. And only then will it be time for pubs to get back to business as usual, and for their customers to raise a glass in celebration.

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