Popular Thai restaurant in Toronto temporarily closes due to COVID-19 infection

Less than one week after bars and restaurants in Toronto were given the go ahead to open up their indoor dining spaces under Stage 3, one busy spot in the Entertainment District has had to temporarily shut its doors due to an employee testing positive for COVID-19.

Pai, known for its delicious Northern Thai eats courtesy of the team behind such staples as the multi-location Sukhothai, informed its thousands of social media followers on Wednesday evening that it would be temporarily and immediately shuttering after a member of its kitchen staff was confirmed to have the virus.

Their last shift was Monday, August 3, and they are currently quarantining at home. All other staffers are being tested and will likewise self-isolate, though none are showing any symptoms at this time. 

The entirety of the restaurant is also undergoing a deep clean and full sanitization.

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While we were looking forward to welcoming you back in our doors, we unfortunately have to close them again. In these challenging times, we believe complete transparency is the only way forward. We regret to announce that a team member in the kitchen has tested positive for COVID-19. The team member, whose last shift at Pai was on Monday, went to get tested out of precaution and is currently quarantining at home. We have immediately closed our restaurant until further notice for deep sanitation and the full team at Pai is being tested and in self-isolation, although no other team members are experiencing symptoms. We will only reopen when we feel it is safe to do so and only with team members who have tested negative. Our thoughts are with our teammate and we wish everyone who has been directly affected by this devasting virus a speedy recovery. We apologize to everyone who had upcoming reservations for the inconvenience, and we look forward to welcoming you back at Pai very soon 🙏🏼🙏🏼❤️❤️

A post shared by Jeff Regular (@paitoronto) on Aug 5, 2020 at 3:21pm PDT

"While we were looking forward to welcoming you back in our doors, we unfortunately have to close them again. In these challenging times, we believe complete transparency is the only way forward," Pai said in a post on Instagram and Facebook.

"We will only reopen when we feel it is safe to do so and only with team members who have tested negative."

Any pre-existing reservations made at the Duncan St. establishment will unfortunately be disrupted, and the team said that it is sorry for any inconvenience and eagerly anticipates welcoming customers back ASAP.

Businesses in Ontario are not actually required to disclose COVID-19 cases to the public, though many are choosing to do so in the interests of honesty and public safety.