Tons Of Jacksonville Businesses Are Closing After Customers Tested Positive For COVID-19

Bars and restaurants in the Sunshine State are starting to shut down once again. Some Jacksonville businesses close after both patrons and employees have tested positive upon visit. The news follows weeks of record-breaking COVID-19 cases in the state.

"Since my initial posts, groups of people have been diagnosed this week with COVID who went to Lynchs last weekend. Out of my group alone, 10 of us are now confirmed positive. 4 more tests are pending," Erika Crisp said in a Facebook post following her diagnoses.

So far, seven different establishments have decided to close up shop following positive novel coronavirus results in the area. This includes Lynch's (open again at the time of this article), Hoptinger, Angie's Sub Shop, the Mini Bar, Catullo's Italian, Mellow Mushroom, and TacoLu.

Angie's Subs had to shut down after an employee tested positive for the virus. According to a post on the restaurant's Facebook page, the employee was "asymptomatic and feeling fine," however, they did decide to close down for deep cleaning and employee testing.

Other parts of Florida have also seen temporary closings.  According to WFLA, three St.Petersburg bars were temporarily shuttered after staff tested positive for COVID-19.

In Altamonte Springs, a suburb north of Orlando, Kiwi's Pub & Grill was forced to shut down after six people were infected with the COVID-19.

"They may seem like an extravagant step, however, we are taking no chances with the health of our staff and our customers," the hub said in a Facebook post.

It's been almost two weeks since most of Florida entered phase 2 of its economic recovery plan.

The move allowed restaurants to offer bar top seating and gave the official approval of bars and pubs to reopen.

Since the transition, the state has seen back-to-back record highs in COVID-19 cases, which has left some local officials considering pausing further openings.

In response to the increase of cases, Gov. Ron DeSantis said that "we're not shutting down" and will continue to move forward as another record spike in COVID-19 rolled on Tuesday.

*This piece has been updated.