“Despite all our best efforts working to exceed health and sanitation requirements, a day that we all knew was possible has come,” Old Scratch’s owners wrote. “Today, we learned that one of our team members at our downtown location tested positive for COVID-19. Fortunately, they are currently experiencing minimal symptoms and are expected to make a full recovery.”
“We will be closing temporarily while we arrange for employees to be tested, and have the restaurant cleaned and sterilized. We are going to take every precaution recommended by health officials to keep our team and guests safe when we do reopen.
“We purposely limited exposure between our Centerville and Dayton operations in anticipation of an event like this,” Old Scratch’s owners said. “Therefore, the Centerville store will remain open as usual.
“We will keep you updated with reopening plans as they become available. We look forward to seeing you all again very soon.”
The scenario is becoming increasingly common across the Dayton area and beyond. Old Scratch’s announcement came the day after three local restaurants — Wheat Penny Oven and Bar in Dayton, Mamma DiSalvo’s Italian Ristorante in Kettering and The Clubhouse Grill restaurant at The Golf Club at Yankee Trace in Centerville — reopened Friday after temporary shutdowns due to an employee’s positive COVID-19 test.
According to Responsible Restart Ohio protocols created by state health officials and Gov. Mike DeWine, it is mandatory for bars and restaurants to “immediately isolate and seek medical care for any individual who develops symptoms while at work, contact the local health district about suspected cases or exposures, and shut down the area for deep sanitation if possible.”
The “recommended best practices” in such cases calls upon a restaurant or bar to “work with the local health department to identify potentially infected or exposed individuals to help facilitate effective contact tracing/notifications; once testing is readily available, test all suspected infections or exposures; and following testing, contact the local health department to initiate appropriate care and tracing,” according to the Responsible Restart Ohio document.
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