SEVERAL more Chester city centre hospitality venues have been forced to shut their doors temporarily due to Covid.

Yesterday we reported Swiss restaurant Zuger's and Opera Grill had closed their doors temporarily, along with Popcorn.

It followed the temporary closures of pizzeria Stile Napoletano and the Townhouse Hotel – along with the accompanying Secret Garden bar and restaurant.

Now several other city centre pubs, bars and restaurants have been forced to close as a result of either team members coming into contact with a positive case, or staff members testing positive for Covid themselves.

The upsurge in the number of venue closures comes as the number of Covid cases in the area in on the rise, due to the so-called Delta variant being more transmissible, and is now responsible for the vast majority of Covid cases in Cheshire West and Chester.

It is also a sign the much-criticised Test and Trace programme is becoming more effective, by informing more businesses if their staff have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus.

Telford's Warehouse has announced it will be closed until Thursday, June 24, after several members of its team had been told to self-isolate by Track and Trace.

A statement on the pub's social media channels said: "We have done our utmost throughout the pandemic to operate as safely as possible, with the well-being of our colleagues and guests our absolute priority.

"We’ll see you next week, really sorry for the inconvenience."

The 1539 Restaurant is closed until Wednesday, June 23, which the restaurant says is due to rising Covid rates within Chester's hospitality industry and a percentage of its team in self-isolation.

It said: "The health and safety of our team and guests is our number one priority, we look forward to welcoming you back safely next week."

Artichoke will be closed until Friday, June 25, after a member of its staff tested positive for Covid.

It said: "It’s with a heavy heart that we have to announce that we will be closing our doors from now until next Friday.

"We have had a staff member test positive and we want to make the safety of customers and staff our priority.

"We are currently in the process of calling everybody who has bookings for this weekend and next week.

"See you all on the other side. Be safe."

The Church bar is also closed until next week after one of its team members tested positive for Covid.

It said: "We are so sorry to let you know that from today we will be closing the Church until next week after a case of Covid-19 was reported within our team.

"Our track and trace processes have been activated and we're hopeful that our stringent adherence to the protocols means that the impact will be limited.

"If you have got a reservation for this week you will be emailed by a member of the team.

"We're sorry to be closing, but for the safety of the team and our customers it's the right decision for everybody.

"We hope to see you again when we re-open our terrace."