Hancock says pub closures after positive virus tests shows test and trace is working

The official number of UK deaths has risen by 155 in the last 24 hours – to a total of 44,391 – while there were also 581 positive virus tests over the same period.

And three pubs in England, which closed after finding out that customers had tested positive for coronavirus, have been praised by the Health Secretary – who claimed it showed that the test and trace system was working. Or was it?

The landlady of one of the pubs affected said she’d phoned scores of punters herself – to make sure they knew as soon as possible.

Our north of England correspondent Clare Fallon is at one of the affected pubs in Batley, West Yorkshire.