Over the weekend, three St. Petersburg restaurants—Galley, Park & Rec and the Avenue Eat + Drink—closed after employees tested positive for COVID-19.
Well now, a popular Tampa restaurant has sounded an alarm.
In a Monday social media post, Meat Market—located at 1606 W. Snow Ave. in South Tampa’s Hyde Park Village—outlined its efforts to comply with CDC and local reopening guidelines. It also said that “Despite our best efforts… we have become aware of an exposure of COVID-19 at our Tampa restaurant early last week.”
In an Instagram reply, Meat Market said, “We were informed on Monday June 8 by an employee they were not feeling well. They were instructed to stay home, and get tested which they did.”
Creative Loafing Tampa Bay called Meat Market to confirm whether the exposure meant an employee tested positive for COVID-19. Someone who answered the phone said a manager would get back with us, and we’ll update this post when they do.
Meat Market, which opened last fall, said it “immediately implemented risk mitigation protocols, including contact tracing.”
“Further, those who we know may have been exposed have been tested, and have been instructed to stay home for the CDC recommended 14-day quarantine period to care for themselves, and to protect the safety of our staff, and customers,” the restaurant—which is still open—added.
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This article appears in Jun 18-24, 2020.

