Coronavirus: Ibiza clubber thought to be behind Bolton case spike

A 23-year-old Ibiza clubber is suspected to be behind Bolton’s coronavirus case spike after he failed to isolate when he returned from a lengthy holiday on the Spanish island and then threw a party for his friends. 

Layton Migas, 23, spent six weeks sunning himself on the Balearic island of Ibiza before returning to his home in Bolton on 20 August. 

Travellers returning from Spain, which is not on the UK’s approved travel corridor list, are required to self-quarantine for 14 days in an attempt to prevent the spread of the virus. 

Rather than abiding by the government’s requirements, Migas left his home numerous times and threw a house party, the Sun reports. 

Greater Manchester Police have fined the 23-year-old £1,000 for the repeated breaches.    

Bolton West MP Chris Green confirmed that he had been told by health authorities that one infected holidaymaker is thought to be behind the rise in infections in the Lancashire town.   

Mr Green told the Sun: ‘The only suggestion I’ve heard so far to what’s happened in Bolton is that someone who had been on holiday in Spain, came back, didn’t go into quarantine.

‘He had coronavirus, went on a pub crawl. That’s so far the only explanation of a contributory factor in Bolton.’ 

Mr Green said he doesn’t think the breaches are the only factor behind the staggering rise in cases in Bolton. He expressed concern over the unknown reason behind the increasing rate of transmission.  

Migas himself confirmed that he had been fined by Greater Manchester Police and said he feels he has been ‘scrutinised’ for being young. 

‘I’d say I have definitely been scrutinised for being a young person,’ he told the Sun. 

‘They wouldn’t have known. It’s only the neighbours that have told them.

‘There’s loads of people I know who didn’t quarantine.

‘What I actually got done for was that I was partying but I was actually in my house with the people I had been on holiday with.’

Migas claims that he was in his house with two other people, who he’d been on holiday with, when police knocked on the door, accusing him of not quarantining himself. 

Officers attended the property at 9am and 1pm, he said, adding that he was asleep at the time so didn’t answer.    

‘It is pretty harsh,’ he said. ‘There is no payment plan, you literally have to pay the £1,000 or go to court.’

Despite not having a test, the 23-year-old asserted that he never had the virus because he was not experiencing any symptoms. 

Thirty per cent of people infected with the disease are asymptomatic.   

‘I’ve not had any symptoms,’ he said. ‘I did actually want to go for a test but there wasn’t any in Bolton and the next nearest was Blackburn. It’s a long way to drive if you know you’re not ill.’  

Chief Inspector Nicola Williams, of GMP, told the Sun: ‘The actions of this man were completely irresponsible, not only was he leaving the house while he should have been self-isolating, he also held a house party, which breached further regulations and subsequently put others at risk.’

She said the £1,000 fine ‘should serve as a stark warning’ to other people who feel they can ignore Covid-19 regulations and get away with it.   

Bolton Council Executive Cabinet Member for Environment Services Regulatory, Cllr Hilary Fairclough, called the individual’s actions ‘disappointing’, ‘selfish and irresponsible’. 

A couple in nearby Chorley, Lancs, were also hit with a £1,000 fine after returning from the Canary Islands and failing to isolate.  

Last week, Bolton was placed under tighter Covid-19 restrictions as the infection rate in the area became the highest in England with hundreds of thousands of people banned from mixing.

Bolton Council asked people in the town to avoid mixing with other households and to only use public transport for essential purposes.

It comes as the town’s infection rate recently increased to 99 cases per 100,000 people per week, the highest in England, the council said.