Arts District British Restaurant Temporarily Closes After Employee Tests Positive for COVID-19 [Updated]

The Cornish Pasty Co., the British restaurant in the Arts District, temporarily closed on Sunday after an employee tested positive for COVID-19.

The company announced that the employee had not worked since July 8, but opted to conduct a deep cleaning of the restaurant and get employees tested for COVID-19 before they can return to work. The employee is doing well.

“Unfortunately one of our employees tested positive for COVID-19 this morning,” the restaurant wrote on Facebook on Sunday. “They haven’t worked since Wednesday morning BUT with the safety of our staff and guests being paramount we have decided to close the restaurant effective immediately. We will do a thorough deep clean of the restaurant AND get every employee tested before reopening. Hope you understand that we are simply not taking any risks.”

UPDATE: Owner Richard Blankley tells Eater Vegas that the restaurant reopened on Tuesday after a deep cleaning and all employees tested negative for COVID-19. “In a perfect world we obviously wouldn’t have wanted to go thru all this, but the world ain’t perfect right now so we have to roll with the punches,” the restaurant wrote on Facebook Tuesday. “Safety of our team and our customers is THE most important thing right now... And, we will continue to use social media as a platform to be honest and 100% transparent with y’all. We are not hiding anything and we will continue to share!”

Cornish Pasty Co. joins a growing list of restaurants and bars that closed after an employee tested positive for COVID-19. Chinatown’s The Golden Tiki closed after an employee tested positive for COVID-19 in late June. The bar is just one of a handful of places in Las Vegas that closed after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19. Jing and Wolfgang Puck Players Locker at Downtown Summerlin, Guy Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen & Bar at Harrah’s Las Vegas, The Mayfair Supper Club at the Bellagio, Northside Cafe at the Sahara Las Vegas, and Beauty & Essex at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas all had employees test positive for COVID-19.

• Employees at Five Las Vegas Restaurants on and Off the Strip Test Positive for COVID-19 [ELV]

• Chinatown’s The Golden Tiki Closes After Employee Tests Positive for COVID-19 [ELV]

• How Coronavirus Is Affecting Las Vegas Food and Restaurants [ELV]