Mioposto Admiral closed after staff member tests positive for COVID-19

| Earthquake | West Seattle news | West Seattle restaurants

Thanks for the tip: Mioposto‘s Admiral restaurant has announced online, and via a note on its door, that it’s temporarily closed:

Our Admiral location is temporarily closed as one of our employees has tested positive for the coronavirus. Out of an abundance of caution, we will be closing the restaurant for a few days while our entire staff gets tested and awaits results. We are having a professional cleaning crew completely disinfect all surfaces later today to ensure a safe reopening. While aiming for a Tuesday reopening, the safety and health of our staff and our community is our top priority and we continue to closely monitor the situation. Thank you for trusting us, we do not take it lightly, and we will see you soon. Take care of yourselves and each other!

Jamie August 1, 2020 (8:12 pm)

I’m so sorry to hear this and am grateful that Mioposto is handling this as well as they are. We live their food, but have stopped ordering from them since they re-opened sit-down dining.This is the second West Seattle restaurant in two days that had to close due to staff COVID-19 infections. Other restaurants have also been impacted and I believe the thing that they all have in common is that they offer sit-down dining. Are we aware of any cases of delivery/take-out only restaurants having to close due to staff infections?

Skeptical August 1, 2020 (8:20 pm)

Grillbird Teriyaki did but were also very proactive in closing.
Jamie August 2, 2020 (2:25 am)

I’m not sure why everyone is assuming this is a result of being open for dine in. A single employee got sick. None of the other staff has reported any symptoms, or tested positive. Unfortunately either that single employee neglected safety and didn’t practice precaution, or it was just an unfortunate coincidence that single employee got sick. This person was kitchen staff as well, so even less likely that they made direct contact with a customer.

flimflam August 1, 2020 (8:40 pm)

ugh. this is bad news…”opening up” will undoubtedly result in more of this i think. not the best analogy but look at the major sports leagues at the moment – they have the best facilities, best doctors, incredible amount of resources and yet MLB has already been compromised after 1 week…not sure what the best route is, but i don’t think we are on it.

Speculationsucks August 1, 2020 (8:47 pm)

Glad they are being transparent about their situation. Hope the employee recovers quickly and everyone else is safe and well. Boggles the mind as to why people speculate as to how someone may have caught the virus. It’s not as if employees go to work and then go immediately home and stay in a bubble until they are at work again. This speculation will only get worse when it’s deemed “officially safe” to open and someone tests positive. The “ I told you so” brigade will be out in full force. Full disclosure I love mioposto and have gotten takeout/curbside pickup a dozen or so times. . I choose not to sit in as the risks for me personally are still higher than I am comfortable with, however I have only observed good risk mitigation practices on the part of mioposto every time I have showed up. Unless you interact with no one else ever, there is always a risk, even if you take “all the right precautions”. If you aren’t comfortable with that risk, totally your call, but idle uninformed speculation helps no one.

Jamie August 1, 2020 (9:04 pm)

Are you implying that the increased risk associated with dining in vs. take-out/delivery is uninformed speculation? Please take a look at the CDC’s guidance which states the following:The more an individual interacts with others, and the longer that interaction, the higher the risk of COVID-19 spread. The risk of COVID-19 spread increases in a restaurant or bar setting as follows:Lowest Risk: Food service limited to drive-through, delivery, take-out, and curb-side pick up.More Risk: Drive-through, delivery, take-out, and curb-side pick up emphasized. On-site dining limited to outdoor seating. Seating capacity reduced to allow tables to be spaced at least 6 feet apart.Even More Risk: On-site dining with both indoor and outdoor seating. Seating capacity reduced to allow tables to be spaced at least 6 feet apart.Highest Risk: On-site dining with both indoor and outdoor seating. Seating capacity not reduced and tables not spaced at least 6 feet apart.I’m not sharing this information in order to annoy my fellow West Seattleites or say “I told you so.” My intent is to help keep my neighbors safe and healthy and help us all get back to something resembling normalcy as soon as we safely can.
WS August 1, 2020 (9:06 pm)

I don’t think it’s that odd to think a person goes to work and than “stays in their bubble until they go to work again.” I work in healthcare and have been doing this for the past 5 months. Unfortunately, as much as I’d like to not be in “a bubble,” as a service profession (restaurant staff included), I think it’s important we do. We have a personal responsibility to do what needs to be done to prevent the spread of this horrific virus.
Nicole August 1, 2020 (10:21 pm)

It’s also highly plausible that the employee got it from a patron at the restaurant. For example a server removes dirty/ used plates and glassware where there would be a high viral load if the patron is sickIm guessing that those restaurant workers have the same # of places to go before and after work for socialization as you and I do: not many!

Meade Thayer August 1, 2020 (8:54 pm)

Is there a way for people to find out what night(s) the employee was working there given we were there last night and on July 27!?

WSB August 1, 2020 (9:24 pm)

I would suggest contacting them directly. There is no requirement for that information to be made public – but in the spirit of contact tracing, I would hope they would let inquiring customers know. (We only know because a reader texted us to say they had seen it online – we subsequently verified by checking their website and by going to the restaurant to see if there was an explanatory note on the door, which there was.)
- Jeff August 2, 2020 (2:01 pm)
  
  As another non-reporting example, Admiral Starbucks had an employee infection and never disclosed who it was, even when regular customers who visited frequently during the timeframe the employee was working made an inquiry about it. Radio silence.
  - WSB August 2, 2020 (2:04 pm)
    
    We reported that case but yes, I recall that SBUX only said the store was “closed” and only mentioned COVID when we inquired.
Okaythankyou August 2, 2020 (10:52 pm)

We just got DoorDash from them on 7/31. I’m waiting to hear back from Mioposto but hoping we are in the clear as well.

Meade Thayer August 2, 2020 (8:37 am)

We sent a message to the restaurant via their website and heard back within 30 minutes last night! Very impressive!! Learned that the employee who tested positive was not working the nights we were there. And the restaurant now has our contact information if needed for further contact tracing.