INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A restaurant and a brewery closed their doors Thursday after learning an employee and customers tested positive for COVID-19.
The Walking Tree Brewery management decided not to open Thursday after learning that a staff member tested positive for the virus, Office Manager Brooke Malone said. Malone said all staff were being tested.
“We won’t reopen until we have all the results back,” Malone said. “Our primary concern is for the community. We’re going to do what we need to do to take care of our family, friends and neighbors.”
The Walking Tree Brewery, 3209 Dodger Road, Vero Beach, will be closed until further notice. The brewery announced the incident in a Facebook post.
Staff will deep clean and sanitize the building during the closure. Those who visited the brewery within the past seven days may have been exposed to COVID-19, and should contact their health care provider, staff members said.
Another business, Kilted Mermaid, also shut its doors Thursday after being notified that two customers tested positive for COVID-19. The customers visited the restaurant six days prior, according to a Facebook post by Kilted Mermaid, 1937 Old Dixie Highway, Vero Beach.
All staff members at the eatery were tested Thursday, Co-owner Rick Norry said. The restaurant paid for employees to get rapid testing through Indian River Home Care, a home healthcare service.
The COVID-19 tests are $140 without insurance and $40 with insurance, Norry said. Norry said all employees should get their results by Friday afternoon.
“As long as nobody tests positive, we’ll reopen tomorrow at 5 p.m.,” Norry said.
Other businesses temporarily closed their doors earlier this year after staff members tested positive for COVID-19. Those businesses, which have reopened, include:
- Bobby’s Restaurant & Lounge, 3450 Ocean Drive, Vero Beach
- Waldo’s Restaurant, 3150 Ocean Drive, Vero Beach
- The Ocean Grill, 1050 Beachland Boulevard, Vero Beach
- Capt Hiram’s Resort, 1580 U.S. 1, Sebastian
