DES MOINES, Iowa — On May 20, el Bait Shop and High Life Lounge, a taproom and restaurant connected in downtown Des Moines, officially opened for limited dine-in seating.
Tables were over six feet apart. Cleaning procedures were followed. Contactless food menus were offered. Yet less than a month later, both spaces are now temporarily closed because a staff member has tested positive for COVID-19.
On June 21, el Bait Shop posted on social media that it "made the decision to temporarily close el Bait Shop and High Life Lounge due to a confirmation of COVID-19 among our staff. Right now we are requiring all of our employees to be tested and will look at reopening once we have confirmation of their negative results."
This is not the first restaurant and bar in the area to be open only to temporarily close up because of coronavirus in a staff member.
Whiskey River in Ankeny halted service and shut down last month for two weeks. Up in Ames, Welch Ave. Station, a bar located in Campustown where Iowa State University students frequent, is temporarily closed.
JAX Ames Outdoor Gear in town also temporarily shut down after an employee tested positive for COVID-19.
As you can see from the above graph, cases in Story County, where JAX Ames Outdoor Gear and Welch Ave. Station are located, is seeing a spike in coronavirus cases over the past several weeks. The county health department is now reporting more than 470 cases.
In Iowa, there is not a requirement for businesses to report to the media when an employee tests positive for coronavirus. Instead, it's just physicians and testing centers that must report all positive cases to the state and/or local health departments.
With that information, the state and local agencies work to access the risk of close contact with others and inform those people who had direct contact with that person.
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