Ocean City, Maryland's Mug And Mallet Restaurant Closes Temporarily Monday, Citing Combination Of Heat And Mask Requirements
OCEAN CITY, Md. (WJZ) -- A restaurant in Ocean City, Maryland, closed its doors temporarily on Monday due to the combination of extreme heat and coronavirus-related mask and distancing guidelines.
In a Facebook post, management with the Mug and Mallet restaurant wrote that the heat made it unsafe for employees to work while wearing masks as required to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
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"With all the health department and state guidelines we don't have the inside capacity to serve everyone comfortably," the post reads. "The mandatory mask requirement makes serving and cooking on days like this unbearable."
The restaurant is expected to reopen on Tuesday.
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Heat index temperatures rose to above 100 across much of Maryland, including Ocean City.
Health officials remain concerned about cases in bars and restaurants and the rising positivity rate among young adults. Multiple restaurants and bars in Ocean City have temporarily closed after employees tested positive for the virus.
"We talked to the Maryland State Police. We know they were concerned not only about the bars and restaurants but also about private parties where people may be congregating in homes or elsewhere to get together," said Dr. Clifford Mitchell with the Maryland Department of Health. "COVID is still here. Young people are completely, 100 percent capable of developing COVID-19. They are not immune in any sense whatsoever."
Mitchell said establishments that do not enforce mask or social distancing rules could lose their business licenses.
"Along with the governor, we here (at) the health department and at local health departments are also looking very closely at restaurants to make sure they are complying with these requirements," he Mitchell said. "If we do investigate reports and find some restaurants are not complying intentionally with the rules, we do have means of compelling them to do that up to and including suspending their license to operate."
He told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren no one has been suspended as of this point. "It is something we are prepared to do," Mitchell said.
For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.