MADISON, Indiana — The sign outside Red on Main in downtown Madison reads "Open" and it's a welcome sight for diners and for owner Lori Heitz. After all, it's her first day back open after she closed her restaurant down earlier this month - her second time this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"I said, 'Oh my gosh!'" she said. "And we realize it's probably going to happen again and again and again."
Heitz said it started when one of her employees told her and her husband that she did not feel well. Heitz and her husband told the employee to not come into work and to get tested. A few days later, Heitz got the call that her employee had tested positive.
"We talked about it like, 'What happens if this happens? What happens if this happens?' but in one hour, we were put in a situation like we need to make a decision right now," she said.
Heitz and her husband decided to close the restaurant again and sent all their staff to get tested. She said it was only after the rest of her staff's tests returned negative and after having the restaurant cleaned once again that she felt comfortable opening back up.
She said the closures have been hard for her and other business owners, though her and husband are lucky in that they own several restaurants in the area, which has helped mitigate some of the losses they took when they closed Red on Main. She said it's her employees who have been hit the hardest.
"I felt more sorry for probably my other employees, my servers, my bartenders who this is their livelihood and they depend on this money, so they were out of work for two weeks," she said.
For other businesses owners worried about having to close their doors again, Heitz urges them to have a plan and to take every precaution, which includes sanitizing their space, enforcing social distancing and requiring staff and guests to wear masks, which will be mandated in the state of Indiana beginning Monday.
"You know, it makes me more aware of why we are wearing the mask and why we have to wear the mask," she said. "It's everywhere and unfortunately it's going to happen again."
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