SKA Bar & Restaurant in Normal Heights and Metl Bar & Restaurant in the Gaslamp Quarter are the latest San Diego restaurants to announce its closure due to an employee testing positive for COVID-19.
"One of our employees tested positive for COVID-19," read a post on SKA Bar's social media. "We are taking this very seriously and have already implemented a strict plan to ensure there is no risk before we open our doors again. Every staff member will be tested and our entire restaurant sanitized. Safety has always been our top priority. We will be transparent about any updates and will keep the public informed as we are. Thank you for your understanding, patience, and support. SKA Bar loves you."
"One of our employees tested positive for COVID-19," read a post on SKA Bar's social media. "We are taking this very seriously and have already implemented a strict plan to ensure there is no risk before we open our doors again. Every staff member will be tested and our entire restaurant sanitized. Safety has always been our top priority. We will be transparent about any updates and will keep the public informed as we are. Thank you for your understanding, patience, and support. SKA Bar loves you."
Restaurants across the county are in the process of preparing for another round of forced closures, as it is expected that San Diego County will be required to close indoor operations at restaurants, bars, wineries and tasting rooms by Wednesday, July 8, to battle the further spread of coronavirus. Other restaurants have closed over the past month due to employees testing positive for COVID-19, including Nolita Hall in Little Italy, Mission Avenue Bar & Grill in Oceanside, and Cesarina in Point Loma. We also received unconfirmed tips of other area eateries that have had an employee test positive but never alerted county officials nor the public.
"In March we made a decision to put ourselves at risk during a pandemic to remain open and feed those in need and serve the public to give our newly opened restaurant a chance of survival," wrote Metl Bar & Restaurant on its social channels. "Making this choice we knew the inevitable would happen at some point as we have been informed we now have a Covid Positive staff member. Last week before their shift one of our front of house employees called out sick, informing us they suspected they might have Covid. We immediately removed that person from the schedule and informed the entire staff. Since that person had only worked 2 shifts in the previous two weeks where they were the only person working in the front of the house on very slow afternoons, came in contact with very few guests and was socially distant at all times from other staff members, the entire staff felt safe continuing to work. We asked all staff members to get tested at that time as a precaution. All staff members who were able to get tested have reported back negative results. Now that we have confirmation that person has in fact tested positive, as well as employees at the other restaurant they work at, we feel it is necessary to close the doors for a few days to confirm every single staff member also has negative results and evaluate how we can move forward keeping our guests and staff safe. We know that the State and City will be announcing new restrictions this coming week so we will also be taking this all into consideration when deciding how best to continue protecting everyone. We will remain as transparent as possible and will of course make further announcements regarding the test results of the rest of our staff. We appreciate your understanding and support."
