UPDATE: 3 GUYS & STOVE CLOSES AFTER CUSTOMERS TEST COVID-19
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
HUNTSVILLE — The owner of a popular restaurant here has temporarily shut down his business and put one of its servers in quarantine after the health unit told him on Sunday that a customer on the long weekend tested positive for COVID-19.
Jeff Suddaby closed the doors to 3 Guys and a Stove Aug. 9 after the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit informed him.
“They were pretty tight-lipped,” he told MuskokaTODAY.com this morning.
Half the staff of 22 was tested for the corona virus yesterday and the others are being tested today, he said in phone interview from the restaurant on Hwy. 60 west of town.
Suddaby said the health unit told him the unidentified person who ate there Aug. 2 has since self quarantined.
And the health unit discovered the positive case through contact tracing.
A media statement in response from the health unit said: “We are presently investigating a COVID-19 exposure in a restaurant in Muskoka with individuals from outside of Simcoe Muskoka, and with one individual from Muskoka.
“All individuals involved have been notified, and SMDHU has not required the restaurant in question to close.”
It’s a least the second time a local business has self-reported and without the health unit advising the public.
Suddaby said he didn’t have to close, but did for the safety of his staff and himself, who also works there.
“Soon as we found out, we closed … and the server is in quarantine until Aug. 16.”
He said he didn’t want any chance of it spreading around Huntsville and so he “voluntarily” closed until further notice on the test results.
Which could be days or longer.
“We’re at the mercy of public health.
“Bottom line, we did have a customer test positive.
“We’re being very honest because I think it’s important and it’s the right thing to do,” said Suddaby who opened 1996 with a couple of former partners. He’s the sole owner now.
He said his business was “going pretty well” before the pandemic.
Now it’s “bloody awful.”
But he’s not complaining.
After being closed for three-and-a-half months he opened for takeout in June, then added a patio and on July 12 he was allowed indoor dining with seating for 60 — half the capacity.
Suddaby said he and his staff team were prepared for any eventuality including a situation like this.
“We’ve been planning for months as part of our business plan for COVID — no ifs ands or buts.”
So he wasn’t “surprised” when the health unit called Sunday.
He had “no idea” and was worried that for a week he operated without knowledge.
He said “you just have to do what you have to do these days.”
That included tables set six feet apart and staff wearing masks.
Customers were asked to sanitize their hands when entering and wear masks when not at the table.
However, Suddaby said “policing has been a challenge” with some customers objecting.
“I’m mask exempt,” he said he heard from some.
But that’s “not fair” to others, he said.
“We have a right to set rules and they must play by the rules or not come in.
“It’s their choice.”
He said he did have to refuse some people service in keeping with the restaurant’s no shoes, no shirt — and now no mask policy.
Suddaby, 58, said he’s concerned about his own health, as well as his staff.
But he said he’d “do the same thing again,” about closing.
He said he happy the contact tracing works, but he’s not sure about the new personal app.
He might get it but says it probably wouldn’t work for his business.
“It’s awkward.”
He said with the typically busy fall season ahead with lots of tourists coming to Muskoka for the colours and corporate business, he cautiously optimistic about re-opening after the tests results come back.
“Then I’ll be positive.”
It has “huge implications.”
Being down so long, he said, “it turns a 12-month season into a seven-month season.”
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We are presently investigating a COVID-19 exposure in a restaurant in Muskoka with individuals from outside of Simcoe Muskoka, and with one individual from Muskoka. All individuals involved have been notified, and SMDHU has not required the restaurant in question to close.
