Beloved Puyallup bar reported a positive COVID case
Bumpy’s had just reopened after seven months of a COVID-induced hiatus. Less than two weeks later, an employee tested positive for the coronavirus.
The 16-year-old Puyallup watering hole shared the news on Facebook Oct. 20, and said it would close for deep-cleaning and to allow time for the rest of the staff to be tested.
“We were beyond excited to reopen two weeks ago but feel closing is in the best interest of our customers and staff,” the post read. “We will reopen when we are 100 percent confident.”
The affected employee last worked at the bar Oct. 10, according to comments from the bar on social media.
Bars and restaurants, or any business, in Pierce County are not required to close when a single employee tests positive for the virus. They are not required to disclose the information, either.
Bumpy’s transparency echoes that of other area restaurants this summer.
By July, at least eight Pierce County restaurants had announced positive cases among staff. Nearly all of them also closed temporarily.
In some cases, these restaurants closed preemptively — “out of an abundance of caution” — if an employee had knowingly been in contact with a positive case.
That occurred over the weekend with 1022 South J, a cocktail bar and restaurant in Tacoma.
“With an abundance of caution, and keeping with the state and federal guidelines, we will not be opening until we have been tested and are 100% sure we can provide a safe and healthy environment for our guests and staff,” the bar wrote Monday on Instagram.
The Hilltop bar has been operating in a limited-service setup. Customers order at the counter and can sit at socially distanced tables on the patio and drink from glassware. Food, on the other hand, is always packaged in takeaway containers, regardless of whether it’s consumer on-site or at home.
Throughout Phase 2, 1022 encouraged guests to order food and bottled cocktails to-go, saying it was “the easiest way to keep everyone safe while still supporting your favorite small businesses.”
In a message to The News Tribune, the bar added that some of its small staff is immunocompromised or have elderly family members. As of Tuesday night, test results had come back negative and the restaurant has reopened.
On Monday, Bumpy’s posted again: “We are working diligently to ensure that our little home bar is safe again,” the Facebook post said. The bar hopes to reopen by Thursday, Oct. 29.
Pierce County has reported more than 9,800 confirmed cases and more than 190 deaths since March 6, and numbers have crept upward in recent weeks after declining in September.
This story was originally published October 28, 2020 at 5:00 AM.