Covid risk to Gelato Burger customers is very low, says NHS

NHS Highlands says it believes the risk of Gelato Burger customers catching Covid is 'very low' after a staff member tested positive for the virus.

 

Earlier today the boss of Oban restaurant and take-away Gelato Burger said he was 'dreadfully sorry' if some customers were not asked for their track and trace details.

 

The George Street restaurant and take-away voluntarily closed its doors yesterday afternoon.

 

Hundreds of comments were left on the business's Facebook page, with some claiming a track and trace system was not in place. The business insisted it was part of its procedures, although it appears some customers had not been asked.

 

Peter Crolla Jnr of Crolla Gelato Franchising Limited told The Oban Times: 'As one of the directors of Gelato Burger, I am very saddened to see the comments on Facebook suggesting that we have not been doing track and trace. This is not true as we have been. It has been part of our procedures to administer track and trace along with all Government guidelines to help control this pandemic.

 

'All front of house staff were trained and shown how to ask for people details. We are dreadfully sorry some customers appear not to have been asked. We can only apologise and as a result we are going to review our procedure to make it easier for our staff to obtain customers details.

 

'On Sunday night one of our back of house team members was feeling unwell. After calling NHS 24 she was advised to get tested. Obviously, we were waiting to see what her test results said before we made any rash decisions. Yesterday afternoon she informed me and management that she had tested positive for Covid-19. We immediately decided to close the restaurant in accordance with the information and guidance from public health.

 

'Anyone that has been in close contact with this member of staff has been ordered to self-isolate for 14 days.  Public health advised that we are still able to open as normal if the staff that are working have not been in contact with the infected member. At this time, unfortunately, we do not have enough team members that could cover the restaurant that have not been working when the member was on shift.

 

He added: 'We have taken every imaginable precaution to help protect our staff and customers. For example, our staff wear the appropriate PPE and the restaurant has been operational where customers and staff are keeping the appropriate distance from each other. We have installed protective screens at the counter area and in between our seating.

 

'Our main priority during this pandemic was to keep our staff and customers safe. We feel the decision to close was the correct one.

 

'We wish our staff member a speedy recovery and we are happy to report that after five days no one has any symptoms to report. We closed for the safety of our staff and customers, which is our main priority at this time. We hope to be back open soon.'

 

NHS Highland said it was aware of a case of Covid-19 in a staff member from Gelato Burger and the individual was isolating at home following national guidelines.

 

A NHS Highlands spokesperson said: 'No other cases of illness have been reported in staff members. The national guidance for contact tracing has been followed and, following this, a number of staff members have been identified as close contacts. These close contacts have been followed up and have been advised to self-isolate for 14 days. As a precautionary measure, testing is being arranged for those identified as close contacts.'

 

Argyll and Bute Council’s Environmental Health team is working with the business which closed voluntarily. This work will be ongoing to support the business and ensure that it is able to reopen in the future.

 

A multi-agency Problem Assessment Group meeting involving NHS Highland, Argyll and Bute Council and Health and Social Care Partnership met this morning to further risk assess the situation and agree any extra actions.

 

The NHS Highlands spokesperson added: 'The restaurant did have measures in place for taking customer contact details to support NHS Scotland’s Test and Protect service, but we are not currently contacting customers. We believe the risk to customers and to the wider public from this situation is very low.

 

'The main transmission route of Covid-19 is direct human to human contact. The member of staff works in the kitchen and has not been at work since Sunday July 19. There is currently no evidence that food is a source of Covid-19 and it is very unlikely that it can be transmitted through the consumption of food.'