Football legend Paul Gascoigne stunned drinkers by visiting a Manchester pub and posing for selfies despite calls for social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The former England midfielder was in Spain last week, the second-worst European country affected by the spread of the killer Covid-19 illness.
‘Gazza’, 52, spent a couple of hours at The White Swan in Swinton with friends on Wednesday, before turning up the music and partying.
Pub landlady Lindsey Smethills said: ‘At first I didn’t believe it was him. But as soon as I heard his accent I knew it was him. I couldn’t believe.
‘I think he had come in with some friends after being out for a meal and came in for a night cap. He was in for a couple of hours and he was so nice.
Paul Gascoigne stunned drinkers by visiting The White Swan pub in Manchester and posing for selfies despite calls for social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic
‘Gazza’ spent a couple of hours at The White Swan in Swinton (pictured) with friends on Wednesday night, before turning up the music and partying
‘Some of the punters were coming in and were like big kids when they saw him.
‘We ended up putting the music on and had a bit of a party.
‘He was so friendly with everyone and was getting pictures with everyone.’
Gascoigne, who this year revealed he curbed alcoholism using anti-alcohol pellets, was pictured at Cocos Bar in Benalmadena on the Costa del Sol last week.
He appears to be ignoring Government calls to avoid pubs, restaurants, and theatres, as Boris Johnson claims the UK can beat the coronavirus in 12 weeks.
The Prime Minister has urged people to avoid public spaces, however, as MailOnline reported that the number of related infections soared by 2,000 this week.
Despite widespread fears of the pandemic, images have surfaced on social media of revellers across the country partying into the early hours of today.
Gascoigne, who this year revealed he curbed alcoholism using anti-alcohol pellets, was pictured at Cocos Bar in Benalmadena on the Costa del Sol last week
England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty has warned young adults that they will not ‘breeze’ through any Covid-19 infection.
And the UK Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, has begged young people to stop going to the pub.
Prof Whitty said: ‘There are also some young people who have ended up in intensive care or who have ended up with severe disease around the world.
‘I think it’s important that we don’t give the impression that every single person who is young and healthy is just going to breeze through this.’
Revellers were still out in Leeds last night despite firm government and expert instructions to stay at home to slow the spread of coronavirus
Nightspots in Leeds were quieter than normal but some people still had a night out
Two women walk with a McDonald’s takeaway in Leeds, where some bars were still open
People have been criticised for ignoring social distancing pleas, including drinkers in Leeds
McDonald’s store – like this one in Leeds – are now operating on a takeaway basis only
UK coronavirus cases surge by 2,000 in a WEEK as the growth of the country’s epidemic outstrips most of Europe and Boris Johnson admits the disease is ‘not responding’ to efforts to slow it down
The UK’s coronavirus outbreak is one of the fastest escalating epidemics in Europe, official statistics have revealed.
676 people were diagnosed with the virus yesterday, more than in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Austria or Denmark.
This was 35 per cent more than the previous day, when there were 407 cases, and meant the total toll had almost doubled in two days from 1,523 to 2,626. Today has seen a surge of another 603 confirmed patients to a total of 3,269.
Only Italy, Spain, France and Germany are seeing faster growth but all have significantly higher numbers of cases – each with at least 7,000 cases each.
Switzerland, which has a comparable number of patients to the UK, saw just 450 new cases between Tuesday and Thursday whereas Britain has had 1,083.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson this week acknowledged the epidemic was entering its ‘fast growth phase’ and scientists have said Britain and other countries are just weeks behind Italy, which is in the grip of the worst outbreak outside of China.
Speaking in a conference on Monday Mr Johnson said the UK was approaching the ‘fast growth part of the upward curve’ in the number of cases.
‘Without drastic action, cases could double every five or six days,’ he said.
As it stands, the number of UK cases has doubled in just three days – it was 1,372 on Sunday, March 15, and 2,626 by yesterday, Wednesday March 16.
Boris Johnson during a No 10 press briefing on Government measures to tackle Covid-19