After recently re-opening due to Coronavirus shutdown, 1909 a popular restaurant and bar in Temecula California closes again after an employee tests positive.
The voicemail at the restaurant reported the closure and referred callers to their website. On the website the following statement was posted. In recent events, we are using this page to keep everyone updated as to what is going on at 1909 with our temporary closure due to a staff member testing positive for COVID. We are working closely with Riverside Health Department to give as much information as possible to our guests. For any questions, please stay tuned on our social media updates. We apologize that we have not been able to answer everyone's questions as fast as you would like. As we navigate these times, we are continuing to try our best to share what we can. Please know that we are a family owned business. The last thing we want is to hide anything, that is not like us. We know of many businesses that have had employees test positive, but have not closed. Legally, we are not obligated to close. According to the health department, as long as the employees or guests that have been in direct contact with our staff member have been notified to quarantine for 14 days, which they have, we could technically resume business. We don't think this is right! We don't feel comfortable with that, which is why we are paying all employees for their time to get tested and why we chose to close. We are also paying potentially high risk exposed staff members to quarantine. We will not re-open unless all staff working have returned with negative results. At this time, we legally cannot share our staff member's information or work times due to privacy laws. We are so sorry! While we wish we could, we do want to do our best to try to share what we can. We are not here to create panic, but want to be transparent. Here is some information that was shared with us by the health department: HOW DO I KNOW IF I WAS EXPOSED? You generally need to be in close contact with a sick person to get infected. Close contact includes any of the following: • Living in the same household as a sick person with COVID-19 • Caring for a sick person with COVID-19 • Being within 6 feet of a sick person with COVID-19 for about 10-15 minutes • Being in direct contact with secretions from a sick person with COVID-19 (e.g., being coughed on, kissing, sharing utensils, etc.) We are not COVID experts, so we cannot say whether a person has been exposed or not, but know that with the knowledge we have right now, guests are most likely at low risk. However, we cannot negate the fact that there is a potential of other staff members being exposed and we are unaware at this time of that outcome. We will continue to share information when it becomes available. Covid Announcement 6/18/20 at 8pm As promised, we will continue to release information as we receive it. Thank you to everyone who has responded. We appreciate your support and understanding as we navigate this unusual time with transparency and diligent concern for both our staff members and patrons. We have been conducting temperature and health checks at the beginning of every staff member's shift since the day we re-opened. And while we cannot share details about our staff member to protect their privacy, we can assure you that the team member who tested positive exhibited no symptoms of illness while at work and passed all checks prior to any shifts. The individual proactively took a COVID test after feeling an onset of a COVID symptom, informed management right away, did not return to work and we chose to close immediately once finding out the results. We have been in contact with Riverside Health Department today to ensure the safety of everybody including our guests and our staff. Again, this is all potential and not a guaranteed fact that anybody has been exposed, nor do we know for sure that our staff member was exposed at 1909, but we do feel that it is our obligation to share all information when possible. Thank you again for being patient with us as we navigate next steps. At this time, Riverside County Health Department is suggesting anyone that has dined with us since re-opening has potentially been exposed. While you may not have come in direct contact with the staff member, we cannot say for sure that none of our other staff have not been exposed until we receive all test results back. Again, we wish we had better news to share 😢! We can guarantee that we will not re-open until all of our staff return with negative test results along with other new measures put in place. Thank you to all of you for your best wishes for all of our staff! We appreciate you and will continue to be diligent and transparent as we move through this challenging time. **Please note that the rumors already starting to fly about a "server" being the staff member are just rumors. We have not nor will state the position the staff member is in at our establishment. Covid Announcement 6/18/20 at 12pm As a company we have been closely monitoring COVID-19 news and updates, and unfortunately, just learned one of our own has tested positive for the virus. This is extremely sad news to all of us as we have done our best to go above and beyond with safety and sanitation for all of our guests and staff. We are hopeful that the additional cleaning procedures, no-contact policies and daily employee and guest temperature checks that were implemented upon reopening have contained the possibility of a spread. However, out of an abundance of caution for our valued guests and staff members, we will be temporarily closing. At this time, we are working closely with Riverside Health Department to ensure everyone's safety. There is no proof that this virus was contracted at 1909, but we want to take precaution as much as we can. Maintaining a safe, enjoyable establishment is our top priority and we’ll be focusing on this situation over the next couple of days by immediately bringing in a professional sanitation crew to disinfect our building, and providing all of our staff members with rapid-result COVID tests to ensure they are healthy. Any staff members who tests positive will be given paid leave while they quarantine. After implementing the above action plan we plan to reopen, and will continue to be completely transparent and post updates as we closely monitor the situation. We do not have a set date of re-opening as we want to ensure all staff are cleared before returning to work. We apologize for the inconvenience and short notice to anyone planning to visit us today, but thank you for your understanding and support! At this time, there will not be staff on site to answer phone calls. We sincerely apologize. All emails will be answered as quickly as we can, but please be patient with us. Please continue to check back for updates as when we get information, we will make sure to share what we can. This is a big blow to Old Town and the city. In the statement it refers to other restaurant staff at other dining establishments having tested positive but those restaurants have stayed open. What restaurant they are referring to was not given. And leaves more questions than answers. If you have eaten at the restaurant recently and you want to be tested the best place to go is to the following link. There are testing facilities in Temecula and French Valley. https://www.rivcoph.org/coronavirus/testing Stay safe and the best way to stay ahead of the virus is to get tested. Even if you are not showing symptoms you can still get a free test.
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