‘Don’t come!’ Cornwall urges people who haven’t booked to stay away as Covid surges

Cornwall: Boardmasters revellers queue for bus in August

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“Don’t come if you haven’t booked.” The advice is quite an unusual one coming from a tourism board.

And yet, this is what Malcom Bell, Chief Executive of Visit Cornwall, told Britons on sky News this morning.

He said: “It’s about people going on spec really. We are very very busy, and the last thing we need is a load of impromptu, unplanned visits to Cornwall.”

He explained why people shouldn’t come to Cornwall too.

He said: “Please don’t come down on spec, you’re going to get frustrated, you’re going to get annoyed, you probably won’t find anywhere to stay and you will certainly struggle to find anywhere to book into a restaurant or café.”

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The latest call to stay away comes at the back of grim data.

Cornwall and Devon had an estimated 700 cases for every 100,00 people in the seven days to August 19.

Rising cases in the region are worrying.

Boardmasters Festival, which took place in Cornwall from August 11 to August 15 has been labelled a superspreader event.

Almost 5,000 Covid cases have been linked to the festival.

Three-quarters of the new cases are under 21 years old.

Almost a thousand of the Boardmasters cases live in the county.

Cornwall has become a Covid hotspot, according to Government data.

All of this contributes to Malcom Bell’s call to Britons.

He repeated: “Don’t come if you haven’t booked.”

The call to stay away isn’t for everyone.

Malcom said: “The advice is, if you’ve booked, please come down. If you’ve got your accommodation, booked what you’re going to do, that’s fine.”

He insisted: “For those that have booked, welcome to come down, wonderful weather, please stay outdoors, please stick to the guidelines of face, space and hands and masks and the rest of it.

“But please certainly don’t come down if you just thought ‘oh it’s lovely weather and we’re going to see what we can do’.”

Malcom had one more advice to Britons who wished to visit Cornwall.

He said: “Come down for a great time in the winter.”

 

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