BROWN CO., Wis. (NBC 26) -- Some businesses in Brown County have posted on social media about temporarily closing due to coronavirus.
Some establishments said they have had an employee test positive for COVID-19, while others have taken precaution after an employee may have been in contact with a positive case. Many of the businesses temporarily closing stated they are making sure employees are tested before reopening.
A few businesses in Denmark have posted about closing for the time being, including Rookies Bar & Grill. In a Facebook post, it states there has been a positive case of COVID-19 and that it will be closed until all employees are tested and negative. NBC 26 stopped by Rookies Bar & Grill Tuesday and saw it was closed.
Tammy Sommer is the owner of Blossoms in Denmark. Her business is currently open, but she said she knows there is a possibility she may have to close it at some point for similar reasons.
"We always have known from day one when this started that we could be next. We could shut down. I had a really good friend that had to shutdown her business for two weeks. It's hard. It's hard on the family members. It's hard on the employees. It's hard on everybody," said Sommer.
She said she wasn't surprised to see multiple businesses in Denmark take this precautionary step. She said she was proud they're taking steps to help keep the community safe.
Sommer said at Blossoms, she's making sure everything is clean and sanitized. There's a divider at the counter to separate customers and employees. She said they're also only doing take-out orders right now.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, as of June 17, 2020, there was a total of 93 facility-wide COVID-19 public health investigations in Brown County.
Claire Paprocki with Brown County Public Health said the words "outbreak" and "investigation" aren't necessarily being used in a traditional sense with this. She explained that an outbreak could be one confirmed case in a nursing home or two confirmed cases in an enclosed workplace like an office or factory. She said they're referring to those as investigation in hopes of slowing the spread in an easier controlled environment.
Paprocki encouraged people to take preventative steps like getting together in a backyard rather than at a bar, calling an establishment prior to going to learn more about its precautions in place, and being proactive about what you're doing and how you're interacting with people.
