The hospitality firm which owns Aberdeen bars Soul and College has announced all of its premises will be shut “until we feel safe to reopen”.
It follows the discovery of a “cluster” of coronavirus cases linked to another venue in the city.
PB Devco also operates The Queen Vic, So, Vovem Meat & Liquor, The Bieldside Inn, The Howff, and So…Zen, which will also be closed “with immediate effect”.
Health chiefs launched an investigation after 13 people who visited The Hawthorn Bar on Holburn Street tested positive for Covid-19.
Last night NHS Grampian said this cluster had increased to 27 linked cases.
One of the people affected had also visited Soul Bar on Union Street, and informed management of this on Sunday.
The bar was then shut down for a deep cleaning and staff were encouraged to take a coronavirus test.
Yesterday First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said seeing pictures of nighttime revellers in Aberdeen, who were not maintaining physical distancing, had made her “want to cry”.
Stuart Clarkson, the owner and director of PB Devco, said temporarily shutting down its businesses is vital to help stem the spread of the virus.
In a statement online, he wrote: “In response to the ongoing Covid-19 situation in Aberdeen, and the rapidly growing number of increased cases being reported in the news, we have made the decision to close Soul and all the PB Devco venues with immediate effect until we feel safe to reopen.
“As soon as we heard someone who had tested positive had visited Soul, we immediately sought advice and followed the guidance of the government, NHS and Track and Trace.
“However, we feel we now need to take the situation into our own hands to help limit the spread of the virus, as these are unprecedented times and things are escalating quickly.
“Unfortunately we do not have all the answers, despite our best efforts to source these.
“We are still awaiting confirmation on the next steps for our customers who have visited Soul this weekend, however we urge these people to seek their own advice too.
“We all need to work together, as quickly as possible, to protect our city, and as a family-run business local to Aberdeen, we take this very seriously.”
