UPDATE: THE RESTAURANT HAS NOW REOPENED
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A member of staff at the well-known and popular fish restaurant at Shell Bay in Studland has tested positive for COVID-19 and as a precaution, the establishment has temporarily closed.
Despite government guidance that doesn’t force a restaurant to close in these circumstances, the owner of Shell Bay Restaurant and Bistro, Jamie Farrar said he had decided to prioritise the safety of his staff and customers by temporarily closing the restaurant with immediate effect.
“Got advice from Public Health England”
He said:
“As soon as the member of staff tested positive, we closed the restaurant and got all the staff tested. We felt the follow up on the test and trace system was inept, so I spoke to a GP and got advice from Public Health England.
“The tests were fast tracked and everyone has come back negative, which is really good news. We’re now deep cleaning the restaurant today.”
Hoping that the restaurant will reopen tomorrow
Having followed all the guidance, he is hoping that the restaurant will reopen tomorrow, Friday 14th August 2020, in time for the weekend.
The restaurant had already implemented measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus including moving the tables one metre apart, introducing social distancing measures with the toilets, providing hand sanitiser, regularly wiping down the tills and staff wearing PPE when cleaning glasses and cutlery.
“I feel it’s better to be transparent with our customers”
Jamie Farrar continued:
“I think that the fact that all the other staff tested negative, is testament to how seriously we’ve taken all the precautions in the restaurant against the spread of coronavirus. We’re only a small restaurant and we’re lucky to be able to open all the windows and make it nice and airy.
“I feel confident that we took the right approach – surely it’s better to do what we did and close? I’d urge other restaurants in the same position to do the same. I feel it’s much better to be transparent with our customers and to get the staff tested without hesitation.”
He added:
“The member of staff had symptoms 14 days ago and thankfully, she is now absolutely fine.”
The number of confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council and Dorset Council areas for the 28th to the 3rd August 2020, which is the latest available data, shows that there were just eight confirmed cases across the whole county.
