WEST LAFAYETTE – A popular pizza placed a block from Purdue’s campus closed Sunday, at the end of a busy move-in week and on the day before fall semester classes were scheduled to start on the West Lafayette campus, after an employee told the owner that they’d tested positive for coronavirus.
David Sommers, owner of Mad Mushroom, said he shut the restaurant at 320 State St. after an employee reported the positive COVID-19 test Saturday night. The employee’s most recent shift before that had been Thursday morning, he said.
Sommers posted a notice on the restaurant’s front door and posted messages on social media Sunday – “in the spirit of transparency.” He said he’s spent that day calling nine other employees who would have had contact with employee to let them know and waiting on the Tippecanoe County Health Department for word about what to do next.
Sommers said it wasn’t lost on him that closing came at a time when the Village area was thick with returning students for the first time since business slowed in March when Purdue switched to remote learning and campus practically emptied as coronavirus cases started to emerge. Sunday night, lines stretched outside restaurants along State Street, across the street in Chauncey Hill Mall and around the corner on Northwestern Avenue.
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“I’m not saying it was an easy decision, but it was the correct decision,” Sommers said. “We did it out of an abundance of caution. ... We’ll reopen when we can do it safely and fully staffed. The safety of our staff and customers is the top priority right now.”
Mad Mushroom’s closure also coincided with nerves, on campus and off, about coronavirus cases as an estimated 40,000 students for a return to in-person classes. Spikes in cases among students have undercut reopening plans at other U.S. campuses, including plans to move online to continue the semester at Notre Dame last week and to start the semester at Butler University.
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Sommers said none of his other staff members reported any symptoms. He said he expected to hear Monday from the county health department.
Health department officials were not immediately available to say whether other restaurants near Purdue were in similar situations. Sommers said he was unfamiliar with another others.
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“We’ve taken every precaution,” Sommers said. “I’m confident we’ve done what they have been asking us to do. ... This is something we feel we have to do to be as cautious as we can possibly be.”
Sommers said he would offer updates on reopening plans on social media.
Reach Dave Bangert at 765-420-5258 or at dbangert@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @davebangert.
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August 24, 2020 at 07:15AM
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Mad Mushroom, popular Purdue pizza place, closes after employee tests for COVID-19 - Journal & Courier
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