Orlando’s Closed Temporarily for Deep Cleaning Opening Thursday

A day after news hit that three employees at Orlando's Italian Restaurant on Indiana Avenue had tested positive for COVID-19, the restaurant has temporarily closed its doors for a deep cleaning of the premises.

According to Orlando's Facebook page, the cases became symptomatic four or more days after their last shift and are currently quarantining. The restaurant said it believes the infected staffers contracted COVID-19 from being out and about in the community.

Orlando's Indiana got 3 positive cases in 24 hours. All got symptomatic 4 days or more after last day they worked. All are quarantined now. Health department consulted with us. We are closing Orlando's Indiana tommorow [sic] Wednesday to deep clean and sanitize. We plan to open again Thursday. Health department okay with all our sanitation efforts including masks on FOH staff. I don't think our staff got the virus from customers I think they got it out in the community. Lubbock just had its record number of cases today.

The restaurant told us that the sanitization process, handled by Germ Blast, will occur Wednesday, and that the plan is to open up again on Thursday.

Orlando's has been laser-focused on making sure employees wear masks during their shifts to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, both among the staff and customers.

"I think requiring our front-of-house staff to wear masks does a lot to protect our staff and customers," said Loyd Turner of Orlando's. "We have spent over $10,000 providing those so far, but thankfully the price has come down.”

Lubbock citizens should appreciate the efforts many of our local businesses are taking to protect their customers. Now, it’s time for customers to take care of the people working for them by practicing better social responsibility, including good hygiene, social distancing, and wearing face coverings when out in public.

Orlando's reopened in May.