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Longstanding craft beer bar Meridian Pint shut down its takeout operation this week after learning an employees has contracted COVID-19.
The former Columbia Heights standby, which relocated to the Dominion Hills neighborhood of Arlington last May, shared the news Monday night with a social media post from owner John Andrade. The unnamed employee was hospitalized and tested positive for the coronavirus on Sunday, April 19. According to Andrade’s post, they had not worked in the restaurant for nine days.
“We have been in close communication with all employees who had any contact with him in the days leading up to his last shift,” the post reads. “Currently, no other employee has shown any signs or symptoms of the virus and we’re confident that it is an isolated incident.”
Meridian Pint had been running a takeout business for dinner service and groceries, along with growler fills, and to-go cocktails and beer cans.
Andrade notes Meridian Pint staff has followed proper protocols to prevent the spread of the virus, including “vigilant hand washing, proper use of masks and gloves, no-touch service, sterilized pens, and stringent cleaning procedures.”
The Arlington restaurant plans to “reevaluate” the situation after a two-week quarantine period has passed. Under Virginia’s stay-at-home order, currently set to expire June 10, restaurants in the state are limited to takeout and delivery.
Sibling D.C. restaurants Brookland Pint and Smoke & Barrel remain open for to-go service as usual, Andrade tells Eater.
Another Northern Virginia restaurant flagged potential exposure between employees and customers last month, when someone who frequented Old Town’s Murphy’s Grand Irish Pub the week before St. Patrick’s Day tested positive for COVID-19.
