ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – After reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic Orange County restaurants and bars have had to close up shop once again because of coronavirus concerns.
Florida is now in Phase 2 of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ reopening plan but as of June 24, the cases of the respiratory illness continue to grow by the thousands every day.
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Several Orange County establishments have closed after their employees or customers tested positive for coronavirus, while others are closing out of precaution.
The following restaurants and bars have closed because of COVID-19 concerns:
Knight’s Pub, 3910 Alafaya Trial, Orlando. The popular club near UCF closed after 13 employees and 28 patrons tested positive for COVID-19 at the bar.
Will’s Pub, 1042 N Mills Ave., Orlando. The pub closed after a patron tested positive for COVID-19, according to the bar.
Lil’ Indie’s and Dirty Laundry, 1036 N Mills Ave Orlando. Both bars are closed until the properties can be properly cleaned and sanitized.
Staff from Will’s Pub, Lil’ Indie’s, and Dirty Laundry are also getting tested for the virus.
A Facebook post from Lil Indie’s shows employees will not be allowed back to work until they have a test result showing they are safe to do so.
A Facebook post from Gators Dockside Apopka said an employee recently tested positive for COVID-19 and the restaurant will remain closed until it has been extensively cleaned and staff properly tested.
The Matador, 724 Virginia Dr Orlando, announced on Facebook an employee tested positive for COVID-19 on June 19.
The rest of the employees are also now being tested. The Matador is closed until further notice, crews will continue sanitizing and cleaning the bar.
The Guesthouse, 1321 Mills Ave N Orlando, is temporarily closing out of caution as COVID-19 cases go up in Orange County.
“To date, not a single member of our team has tested positive, however - out of an abundance of caution - we feel it is our duty to temporarily close to properly protect both our team and our community,” a Facebook post from The Guesthouse read.
Both Lazy Moon Pizza locations temporarily closed after both UCF and Mills Ave. locations had employees test positive for the virus. All locations will go through professional sterilization, according to the restaurant.
Lazy Moon will reopen on June 24 and it will be for takeout and delivery only.
Aero Rooftop, 60 N Orange Ave., Orlando, is not closed but the establishment had an employee test positive for COVID-19 on June 18, according to a Facebook post.
Too Much Sauce, located at 1430 N. Mills Ave. in Orlando, closed until further notice Friday due to the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in the area, according to the restaurant’s Twitter page. The restaurant said no employees had presented any symptoms of COVID-19 but made the decision to have all employees tested as a precaution.
The restaurant posted on Twitter July 6 that staff planned to reopen either later the same day or definitely the next. Leaders with the restaurant tweeted that during the closure, which began on June 26, all employees were tested for COVID-19 and the restaurant was deeply sanitized.
This story will be updated as more closures are announced.