The Upland Columbus Pump House temporarily closed Wednesday to be sanitized and cleaned after an employee there tested positive for COVID-19.
In a social media post, the restaurant, at 148 Lindsey St., said it has been in communication with the Bartholomew County Health Department. All employees who were in contact with the employee are seeking testing and will not be on the premises until their test results come back negative, restaurant officials said.
The last day the employee with a positive test worked was Sunday.
“We are sharing this information with our customers for the sake of transparency, and so that you can take any appropriate steps for testing and monitoring any symptoms,” according to the restaurant’s announcement.
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Bartholomew County Health Officer Dr. Brian Niedbalski said patrons should seek testing if they develop symptoms, but people most at risk for contracting the virus are close contacts, which most likely would be co-workers in this case.
“People would only need to consider being tested if they were close contacts (co-workers most likely),” Niedbalski said. “Patrons shouldn’t unless they develop symptoms.”
The Bartholomew County Health Department, for its part, said it offers guidance for local restaurants on how to handle instances in which a staff member tests positive for COVID-19, but wouldn’t confirm if the department was currently working with the Upland Columbus Pump House.
“We offer guidance to any and all restaurants. Just like we do with any health matter,” said Amanda Organist, director of nursing at the Bartholomew County Health Department. “I will not mention any specific locations.”
If the Bartholomew County Health Department learns of any issues involving COVID-19, local health officials “make contact and provide education and information,” Organist said.
“We have not had any issues with any facility following our guidance and recommendations,” she said.
The Columbus Upland Pump House said it will continue to monitor the situation daily and that the safety of its employees and patrons is its top priority, according to the announcement.
“Since day one, we have carefully followed all requirements outlined by the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), including but not limited to implementing social distancing, requiring staff to wear (personal protective equipment), and many other safety measures,” the restaurant said in the announcement. “Unfortunately, we know that all of these things cannot 100% stop the spread of this virus. We will continue to monitor this situation day by day, putting our employees’ and customers’ safety first.”
