Two Southampton pubs has been forced to temporarily close after a staff members tested positive for Covid-19.

The Station Pub in Bitterne Park announced to its Facebook followers on Tuesday that it has had to close until July 19 due to the positive case.

Speaking to customers in the comments of the post, a spokesperson for the pub said that a staff member had tested positive on Monday after working a shift the night before.

The pub went on to explain that all staff had tested negative in advance of Sunday's shift, but now, following government advice, it has had to close whilst all staff isolate as they were in close contact with the individual on the night.

A spokesperson for the pub said on Facebook: "Sorry to tell you guys but due to circumstances beyond our control the station will be closed until the 19th of this month. But not all bad news when we reopen all restrictions will be lifted so back to the norm thank god. See you soon"

They will reopen on July 19.

Five Rivers pub in Southampton has also been forced to close for the same reason.

They will be closed until Wednesday July 21 to allow them to deep clean the pub.

Self-isolation rules are currently hitting businesses and school extremely hard.

In the New Forest, the council suspended its garden waste service for weeks due to staff shortages, partly due to self-isolation.

And schools in the area have also been hit hard, with classes learning at home and pupils told to stay away from schools due to the same rules.

This morning, the Solicitor General told Sky News that the Government recognises the “significant impact” the NHS Covid-19 app is having on businesses.

It comes after more than half a million users in England and Wales received an alert in the seven days to July 7, the highest seven-day total since data was first published in January.

Lucy Frazer said as well as relaxing self-isolation rules on August 16 for the fully vaccinated, there are pilots being undertaken which could allow people to start a testing regime rather than self-isolate.

“It (the app) is an important tool because it is important that you do isolate if you do come into contact (with a positive case), but I know this is something the Government is looking at,” she told Sky News.

“In addition to the changes in mid-August, the Government is also carrying out a number of pilots to see whether instead of isolating when you get pinged, you could take a test.

“The Government is looking at this very carefully, recognising the significant impact this is having on businesses.”

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of trade group UKHospitality, told MPs on the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy committee that firms have forecast that a third of staff could soon be isolating.

She said this comes on top of a wider labour shortage following the impact of lockdown measures and people moving out of the sector to find employment.

Ms Nicholls told the committee on Tuesday: “We have one in five hospitality staff in isolation, and we have particular concerns as around 60% of our staff are under 30.

“The changes to allow double-vaccinated people to avoid isolation won’t kick in in a material way until September because the workforce won’t have been able to have their second jabs until then.

For many of our small businesses, if you lose one or two of your workers you don’t have enough people to open at all, and obviously that has huge ramifications

“We believe we need to have a test-to-release policy to help them work.

“For many of our small businesses, if you lose one or two of your workers you don’t have enough people to open at all, and obviously that has huge ramifications.”

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said there was a similar proportion of shop worker absences due to isolation rules.

“We are seeing some vacancy rates of around 20%,” she told MPs.

“And only some of that is directly people with Covid – a lot is the indirect consequence of having to isolate, irrespective of tests or whether one has had two vaccines.

“I think it is an immediate issue that comes with the lifting of restrictions.”