Hempfield restaurant closed after mistaken covid-19 case, looks to reopen Friday

Rodney Yemc is at his wits’ end.

His 25-year-old Hempfield business, Rodney’s Restaurant, has been closed for a week as he awaits coronavirus test results from as many as 25 employees who erroneously believed they were exposed to covid-19 by another worker.

“This really puts you in a situation,” Yemc said. “We really want to be concerned, and the tough part of this is there are really no guidelines about what to do.”

Rodney’s, along with other restaurants, is struggling to stay in business during the pandemic and amid tighter restrictions that limit inside dining to 25% of capacity. Now, it has to deal with another unknown, its owner said.

For Yemc, the saga started in early July when a kitchen staffer called off work for an illness and was directed by a doctor to be tested for coronavirus.

A week later, on July 17, that worker notified Yemc he tested positive for covid-19. In response, Yemc closed his business and had half of his 50-person staff who were potentially exposed get tested that same day. Hours later, the kitchen staffer received another call from his doctor who said a mix-up caused him to receive another patient’s results. The worker, in reality, had tested negative for the virus.

Still, the restaurant remains closed.

“We had a lot of employees in the system at that point, and we made a decision to close. I thought the optics were better to stay closed,” Yemc said.

A week later, none of Rodney’s workers have received their test results, Yemc said.

Laboratories analyzing the testing say the turnaround for results could take a week or longer. Delays have been a growing problem both locally and nationally as surges of the virus have flooded labs charged with analyzing tests.

The slow turnaround of results for his staff has proved long enough for Yemc, who said he will reopen Friday. Staffers still awaiting test results will remain off work, he said.

While other businesses, such as grocery stores and retail outlets, have remained open amid positive tests after deep cleaning and sanitizing of potentially infected areas were completed, Yemc said he is unsure of just what he is required to do to keep operating in similar circumstances.

“I know it’s different because we are preparing food. We do everything we can possibly do. We have social distancing, wear masks, I put up $5,000 of Plexiglas but there’s no guidelines,” Yemc said.

In response to questions about guidelines for business owners, and specifically restaurant operators in dealing with potential coronavirus cases, Pennsylvania Department of Health spokesman Nate Wardle referred to official requirements posted on the state’s website.

Those guidelines call for business owners to clean and disinfect areas of exposure after 24 hours, open windows and to keep infected workers off the job.

Yemc criticized the guidelines as not being specific enough to give him confidence to reopen safely.

“There’s really no direction from the state,” Yemc said.