What some Seattle businesses learned from shutting down because of the coronavirus pandemic

Health officials have shut down Duke’s Chowder House in West Seattle after several employees tested positive for Covid-19. It’s not the first time a business has closed due to the pandemic, and it’s likely not going to be the last. A Seattle brewing company shares what it learned after it closed.

Closing is the last thing businesses want to do after months under lock down. But when an employee at Fremont Brewing tested positive in June, co-owner Matt Lincecum says they chose to close for about a week.

“We took it as an opportunity to shut down; let’s actually improve our action plan,” he said.

In addition to deep cleaning its facility, Fremont Brewing consulted an epidemiologist to evaluate their safety protocols. They also talked about different responses based on exposure scenarios.

“There’s so many permutations of situations where somebody’s been exposed second, third, fourth degree that we really need to determine what’s the appropriate actions for it. And it just takes time.”

Lincecum says those plans are constantly updated based on emerging information about the virus.