Geaghan’s & Woodman’s Playing It Safe After Employees Exposed To Covid

Late Friday afternoon, the long-time Bangor eatery, Geaghan's Pub & Craft Brewery,  found out that one of its staff members had tested positive for Covid-19. Following protocol, they immediately reached out to the Maine CDC, but also to the public. They put a post up on their Facebook Page, urging anyone that was in the restaurant between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. that day, to reach out to their healthcare providers if they felt concerned. They also wanted to explain the situation to their patrons.

"Being transparent and honest, this staff member was in our facility, but it was prior to learning of the positive test and this team member has not shown any symptoms between taking the test and receiving positive results. We are pleased to also state that this staff member, like all of our staff, has followed best practices and has not once been anywhere in our building without a mask. This is exactly why we adhere to these guidelines for our crew and for our customers at all times in our facility."

Out of an abundance of caution, and to facilitate both the cleaning of the restaurant and the testing protocols for the staff that would need to be followed, the management at Geaghan's closed the pub immediately and got to work.

Now, I am sure this is they type of news no one ever wants to learn of, and news that makes a lot of people nervous. When an employee tests positive and there's potential exposure, even if very small. But I, for one, appreciate so much that Geaghan's was open and honest about things. I wouldn't expect anything less, as they kind of have a reputation for going above and beyond when it comes to the community and their company.

By Sunday afternoon, after taking the weekend do deep clean and follow up with folks from the CDC, Geaghan's released another update on their page, with some positive news:

"We have decided to take a slow approach to our reopening and we will be open for CURBSIDE ONLY. This will allow the time to make sure all staff members who may have been exposed get tested and have results back before we fully reopen. We will remain CURBSIDE ONLY until we are confident there will be no spread and our staff are comfortable with returning to work."

They mentioned that the staff member who had the positive test is still a-symptomatic and that it seems to be a contained incident.

In related news, Woodman's Brew Pub in Orono also got news this weekend that an employee may have been exposed to Covid-19. They posted on their Facebook Page on Saturday:

"Today we were notified that one of our Woodman’s kitchen staff members had contact with a family member who tested positive for COVID-19. We have a strict mask policy at Woodman's, but out of an abundance of caution we will be closed for cleaning, disinfecting, and testing. To be clear, none of our staff are exhibiting signs of COVID-19."

Woodman's will remain closed until their staff have been tested and CDC protocol followed.