When they are sure all of their staff is OK, the restaurant 9 Miles East will open the cafe again, owner Gordon Sacks said this morning during an interview.
For now: “Anything with customer contact is closed.”
That means the cafe at 64 Excelsior Avenue in Saratoga Springs is closed, so is pizza take out.
The restaurant shut abruptly yesterday.
Sacks said that a staff member has tested positive for COVID-19, most likely contracted from his life partner. There is no news about which strain of COVID this is, despite the announcement yesterday that the N. Fox Jewelry store at 404 Broadway in Saratoga Springs was the first location in the state to report the new strain. That strain, first reported in the U.K., is no more lethal but much more contagious than the original strain, experts have said.
All staff at the Excelsior Avenue location of the restaurant are getting tested, and only one person at a time is being allowed into the building.
“It’s very challenging,” Sacks said, “but we’re trying to do the responsible thing.”
9 Miles East is a farm-to-table restaurant, caterer and fresh food delivery service.
“Anything contactless can still be delivered,” Sacks said. That includes services such as catering which allows the delivery person to leave the meal outside an office door so staff from both the restaurant and the office remain apart.
It is unclear if contact tracing is being conducted on the infected worker. According to county sources, in some situations, infected people are asked to contact others themselves.
“I don’t think there’s a clear set of protocols [regarding how to handle a positive case of COVID] for anyone anywhere,” said Todd Shimkus the president of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce. “Even if you think there are, things get changed.”
Businesses are left to do what they think best, he said.
Under the original statewide PAUSE plan, all businesses were required to create a safety plan. Shimkus said he has discussed the need for this with member businesses.
“You need to take the steps that you think are the most responsible for your customers and employees,” he said, adding the steps need to be reasonable and safe in order to avoid fines or other trouble from the state.
In early December, the state prioritized where they would focus contact tracing if an exposure occurred. The highest priority goes “to household contacts exposed in the past six days; people living, working or visiting congregate living facilities, high-density workplaces or other settings (or events) with potential extensive transmission; and those who provide services...to people at increased risk for severe illness.”
One official on background said that restaurant exposures generally are less dangerous to the public than situations on the priority list.
For 9 Miles East, Gordon Sacks said his restaurant had made the decision starting Thanksgiving Day to close indoor dining.
“It was our conviction that people sitting inside eating without masks was a risk,” he said, adding that he knew they were giving up money, but they pulled back anyway.
From Thanksgiving until yesterday, they continued carryout from the cafe.
He said: “Certainly it’s a challenging time for restaurants.”