Coronavirus News
Coronavirus hits employees at 2 high-profile Dallas food & beverage spots
Two cases of coronavirus have surfaced at a prominent Dallas restaurant and an upscale grocery.
An employee at a Dallas location of Central Market tested positive for the virus. According to a release from H-E-B, the market's parent company, the employee works at the store at 5750 E. Lovers Ln. at Greenville Avenue.
The employee does not work in customer service nor in a job handling food, and has not been in the store since March 18.
In a statement, H-E-B President Craig Boyan said that the company "continues to navigate the spread of the coronavirus," stating, "as always, our top priority is keeping our partners safe and healthy, so they can continue to serve our customers and communities during this time of need."
H-E-B said each store has employees dedicated to sanitation and enforcing social distancing measures.
"The work area has been thoroughly sanitized multiple times, following our own strict sanitation standards and COVID-19 cleaning and sanitation program," the company said.
Supermarkets are one of the few "essential" businesses allowed to remain open under Dallas' newly-enacted "shelter in place" order which goes into effect at 11:59 pm on March 23.
On March 19, an employee of Town Hearth, the Design District restaurant owned by chef Nick Badovinus, tested positive. Badovinus posted a notice on the restaurant's website.
"We found out on March 18th that one of our servers at Town Hearth tested positive for the Coronavirus," Badovinus' statement said. "The server told us that they didn't feel well on Friday, March 13th and we immediately sent them home. We’ve checked in with the server who said they are doing well."
"Nevertheless, I'm extremely concerned about this employee, about our customers and about everyone who worked at the restaurant," he said. "That’s why I wanted to tell you about this personally so we can get the word out and be as transparent as possible."
Badovinus said that they would be contacting diners who visited the restaurant between February 28 and March 13 who may have been exposed to the coronavirus.
On March 20, he updated the message with more details about the server and the shifts she worked.
"We have just been cleared to disclose more information in regard to the server from Town Hearth who tested positive for Covid-19," the statement said. "April is a wife, a mother, and a respected friend who works exclusively at Town Hearth. She worked at Town Hearth on February 28th and 29th, and on March 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 7th, 9th, and 10th. On Friday, March 13th, she wasn’t feeling well and went home at 9:30 pm. We are happy to report that she is doing well and in recovery. We hope this information is useful to you and your loved ones."