Did eating out to help get more coronavirus infections caused?

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has vigorously defended the Eat Out to Help Out (EOTHOS) Program this past August, after data revealed a link between rising cases of Covid.

The Sun used figures released by the Treasury to look at the figures and said that places with a significant involvement in the scheme were still seeing low virus levels between August and October.

Restaurant bookings have soared over the programme, particularly on its very last day, prompting the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, to say: "From the get-go our mission has been to protect jobs, and to do this we needed to be creative, brave and try things that no government has ever done before. Today's figures continue to show Eat Out to Help Out has been a success. I want to thank everyone, from restaurant owners to waiters, chefs and diners, for embracing it and helping drive our economic recovery."

The figures reveal that London had the highest total of meals consumed, receiving just 16.455,000, followed by 12.922,000 in the South East and 12.638,000 in the North West.

According to the booking website OpenTable, restaurant reservations grew 53 per cent between Monday and Wednesday in August 2019.

Area areas including Westminster, Scarborough and North Devon are also seeing big adoption of the 'subsidised initiative,' though infection rates are low.