As Arizona sees high spikes of COVID-19 cases, restaurants have shut down again to further prevent the spread of the virus. Downtown Phoenix favorite Jobot Coffee & Bar announced on social media Monday that they would be closing indefinitely after one of its staff members tested positive for coronavirus.
The decision to close up shop, however, was made prior to the staff member testing positive. Jobot first announced their closing in a Facebook post on Sunday, saying that because of the increase of cases, they decided to close their doors indefinitely to protect staff.
“We want to do our part in keeping our staff as well as our customers safe and healthy,” the post said. “We are going to be monitoring the state of things as we take this decision day by day.”
Jobot published another post on Tuesday that one of its staff members tested positive for the coronavirus, saying that the shop’s closing was a decision made before they learned of the staff member’s diagnosis. The post said the staff member last worked one shift during the week of June 17.
“We made the decision to close our doors prior to having learned of these results this afternoon, but we want to be as transparent as possible,” the post said. “Moving forward, our plans remain the same as we announced yesterday: We will be taking this decision day by day in the coming weeks and months to ensure that we are operating when it is safe and responsible to do so.”
Downtown Devil contacted Jobot Coffee & Bar but have not received a response.
Other downtown businesses and shops have started to shut down again because of the current state of the coronavirus. At the time of this publication, Arizona has 54,586 confirmed coronavirus cases, 34,992 of which are in Maricopa County.
The Churchill on North First Street announced in a post on Instagram Friday that they would also be temporarily closed due to the current coronavirus situation.
“We have every intention of re-opening when we see that there is a clear path forward, but right now being open does not feel right,” the Instagram post said. “We love our community and don’t plan on going anywhere.”
The Instagram post continued, stating that while the courtyard itself will be closed to the public, the businesses within will be continuing walk-up and to-go services as they did before the first courtyard closing. The Churchill’s CSA Farm Box program, a cooperative with Sun Produce Co-op, will continue as well through curbside pick-up.
“We will continue to use our social media to highlight our businesses, our neighborhood and new programs that may be launching in the future,” the post also said. “We want to be part of the solution, not the problem. We appreciate your support.”
Contact the reporter at smedwar7@asu.edu.
Sara Edwards was the executive editor of Downtown Devil. She is a graduate student at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Sara has additional bylines in Phoenix New Times, West Valley View, L.A. Downtown News and Boardwalk Times.
Sara is also the co-secretary for the Multicultural Student Journalists Coalition.
