At least four popular Arcata restaurants chose to shut down last week after their employees either tested positive for COVID-19 or were exposed to someone who tested positive for the virus.
Plaza Grill, Salt Fish House, Campground and Wildflower Cafe and Bakery each announced temporary closures on their respective social media accounts last week.
“We have received the unfortunate news that one of our employees tested positive for Covid-19,” Plaza Grill stated on Facebook. “We are stopping all services effective immediately. This includes our Thanksgiving to go boxes. We are moving forward with extreme safety and caution. We will be having all our employees tested and performing a deep clean of our entire restaurant. We will post an update when we have reopening information. We sincerely apologize for these unfortunate circumstances and hope everyone stays safe and healthy during the holiday season!”
As of today, all but one of the businesses remain closed. The Wildflower Cafe announced yesterday that it would reopen today after it was determined that none of its employees contracted the virus.
“We want to thank everyone so much for all the patience, support and kind words this week as we dealt with this challenge,” Wildflower Cafe wrote on Facebook. “After receiving negative test results, we are pleased to say that all of our staff is healthy and ready to work. We will resume our normal hours.”
The closed restaurants have stated that they will announce their reopening plans on social media.
Additionally, Arcata’s Pub at the Creamery has reportedly closed its doors for precautionary reasons as local coronavirus cases continue to spike.
“With the rising COVID-19 cases in our community, we feel it is in the best interest of our staff, business, and community to close our doors until further notice,” the pub stated on Facebook. “We apologize for any inconvenience and confusion.”