DES MOINES, Iowa — Dozens of restaurants, stores, and shops across Iowa have temporarily shut down as the spread of coronavirus continues in the state.
The most recent restaurant to experience sick employees is Rita's Cantina. Though several business owners have shut down for weeks at a time after an employee tested positive for COVID-19, Rita's Cantina is back open just one day after temporarily closing for cleaning.
In a message from the restaurant to Local 5, one employee was exposed through a source not related to the restaurant, and subsequently tested positive for coronavirus. That person last worked on June 25.
"We immediately made the decision to close until we knew the scope of the exposure. We had the building professionally sanitized and disinfected, and hired a company to come test 100% of our staff this morning. Those tests resulted in 1 more positive result. The rest of our ownership, managers and staff all tested negative. Neither employee that tested positive were displaying any symptoms while at work, or at the time of their tests and will self-quarantine for at least 2 weeks," said management. "...we will continue to monitor our staff closely and exclude anyone who is known to have been exposed and take the necessary action to keep our employees and customers safe. Rest assured, that everyone working tonight received a negative test result this morning."
Rita's Cantina has been open since the beginning of June.
There is no requirement for a business to shut down for an extended period of time if an employee or customer tests positive for COVID-19. There also is not a requirement for a business to report that information to the state.
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