Four OC Restaurants Close As COVID Cases Jump
HUNTINGTON BEACH (CBSLA) - Four popular Orange County restaurants experienced closures this week just as businesses are starting to reopen for summer.
Wednesday at HQ Gastropub in Huntington Beach, The Boiling Crab near South Coast Plaza in Santa Ana, as well as Javier's and A Restaurant in Newport Beach, the doors were locked.
CBS2's Michele Gile confirmed that three of the four are related to COVID cases discovered within the employee ranks.
An Instagram post from A Restaurant says it's undergoing deep cleaning, sanitization and testing of staff. We have been unable to verify what prompted that closure.
The Orange County Health Department, according to the Board of Supervisors, is working with Javier's which has at least one and maybe more employees who have tested positive for COVID.
On social media, Javier's informed customers that it voluntarily closed and will reopen July 1 after deep cleaning and testing.
News of these closures come as the debate rages in Orange County over masks and whether people should be required to wear them.
Recently the mandatory mask policy was lifted but not for restaurant workers, who must wear face coverings at work.
An employee at The Boiling Crab told Gile the plan was to reopen Wednesday afternoon, but at least some customers were having second thoughts.
"It's a little scary, but you know, trying to get out into the real world," said one woman.
If there's a cluster of cases in a workplace, a county public health services team can mandate that all staff be tested and that the facility close until it's safe to reopen.