Multiple people connected to Tellers steakhouse in Islip have been diagnosed with coronavirus and recent patrons may have been exposed, Suffolk County health officials warned Wednesday.
The Suffolk County Department of Health Services advised anyone who visited Tellers on Nov. 16 or 17 that they may have been exposed to COVID-19, should get tested, and should monitor themselves for symptoms for 14 days after visiting the restaurant. Officials said they alerted the public immediately upon discovery of the cases through an investigation.
“On Nov. 16th, an employee tested positive for Covid with no symptoms,” Bohlsen Restaurant Group, the parent company of Tellers, said in a statement. “The employee was immediately put into quarantine. Anyone who was in proximity to that employee was also sent home … All employees who could have been exposed to the employee were required to test and not return to work until they provide a negative test result.”
A Suffolk health department spokeswoman was not immediately able to say if the additional case or cases connected to the restaurant were staff, patrons, or others.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, or diarrhea.
Tellers is the latest in a string of restaurants that officials have issued virus advisories about, including Friendly’s in Riverhead and two eateries in Oakdale.
The advisory comes after Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently ordered bars and restaurants with liquor licenses to close at 10 p.m. to curb the spread of coronavirus as the infection rate continues to rise in recent weeks.
Suffolk Health Commissioner Gregson H. Pigott told reporters during a news conference Friday that the county’s 4 percent positivity rate is the highest since May. The county also had more than 500 people test positive, the most since April.
The current seven-day average COVID-19 infection rate is 3.3 percent, according to the governor’s office, which predicts cases will continue to rise after Thanksgiving and into the New Year if the public does not wear masks, practice social distancing, and avoid large gatherings.
Suffolk urged residents seeking information on COVID-19 to visit suffolkcountyny.gov/COVID19.
For more coronavirus coverage, visit longislandpress.com/coronavirus
