Oak Bay, James Bay restaurants temporarily close due to COVID-19 exposures

Victoria -

Three Greater Victoria eateries have temporarily shuttered their doors due to COVID-19 exposures that occurred last week.

The Penny Farthing Pub in Oak Bay, alongside the adjacent Vis-à-Vis restaurant and The Bent Mast restaurant in James Bay have voluntarily closed due to exposures.

According to the Penny Farthing, the pub was notified of the exposure on Friday by Island Health. Shortly after, the pub said it would close until Wednesday so that the building could undergo a "professional deep clean."

The pub says that Island Health did not consider the exposure to pose a high-risk to the public.

"With the utmost consideration and care for our staff and community we have decided to close for a professional deep clean of the pub and @visavisoakbay," said the Penny Farthing in a social media post Saturday.

Vis-à-Vis, located directly beside the pub, says that it is "part of the Penny Farthing team" and will be closed until Wednesday as well.

Meanwhile, The Bent Mast in James Bay says it is closing so it can clean its space as a precaution.

"Just a couple of hours ago we found out that one of our kitchen staff, who also works for a busy pub in Oak Bay, has tested positive for COVID-19," said the restaurant in a social media post Saturday.

"We are in touch with the health authorities to assess the situation and find out what our approach should be at this time," wrote the Bent Mast. "We are a community supported business, and our patrons and staffs’ safety is of utmost importance to us."

The restaurant did not say Saturday when it planned to reopen.

None of the three restaurants were ordered to close by Island Health. According to the Island Health website, there are currently no businesses that have been ordered to close by the health authority, which occurs when three or more people develop COVID-19 due to likely transmission from a workplace.