El Paseo restaurants temporarily closed after employee tests positive for coronavirus
A worker at El Paseo Mexican Restaurant in Fort Worth has tested positive for coronavirus, forcing officials to close all their locations.
The announcement was made Monday on the restaurant’s Facebook page just hours after the worker was told his test was positive.
“We are taking precautionary steps to make sure everyone is safe from the virus by temporarily closing all of our locations until April 7th,” according the restaurant’s post. “That would make it a full two weeks of no one showing symptoms at the CDC’s recommendations.”
The restaurant has locations in Fort Worth, Azle and Mineral Wells.
Before the Monday announcement, El Paseo restaurants had provided curbside pickup or delivery service for patrons.
Restaurant officials said one of their employees called in sick with a fever and sore throat on March 24. The employee visited a doctor and was told he had a sore throat, but restaurant officials said they did not allow him to come back to work for the safety of everyone.
On Saturday, the employee was diagnosed with double pneumonia and doctors ran a test for COVID-19. The worker and restaurant officials received word of the positive results on Monday.
The worker was last at the restaurant on March 21, and restaurant officials said no other employees n the past 10 days had exhibited signs of the coronavirus.
“It breaks our heart to hear someone we love is very ill,” according to the Facebook post. “We will continue to pray for strength and healing for them and their family. We also pray for protection over our staff and customers.”
This story was originally published March 31, 2020 at 12:29 PM.
