Another Cork pub shuts doors temporarily due to Covid

CORK city centre bar The Woodford has temporarily closed its doors following positive Covid-19 results for a number of their employees.

Dave Walsh who is the manager of The Woodford off Daunt Square said they made the decision for the ‘safety’ of their staff and customers. 

“We made the decision on Monday. We could have stayed open probably but we were just nervous. For the safety of our staff and customers, we made this decision. 

"A lot of our staff members live at home with their parents and it didn’t sit well with me that their parents would be concerned that they were in a place where we had positive PCRs,” he said.

The manager said the staff members who have tested positive are fortunately not too sick with the latest variant of Covid. 

“We had a couple of positive results with staff who were working on Thursday, December 23. We were made aware of it on Christmas morning that two of them had tested positive. 

"We had about 15 or 16 people working between the kitchen, floor, and the bar that day so we made a decision not to open for a couple of days until we find out the lay of the land.

“Luckily none of them are sick at all really. They both had PCRs which were both positive. One other person has tested positive. We did antigen tests with a lot of them and they were all negative, but because they were close contacts we decided it would be safer to stay closed for a few days,” he added.

Mr Walsh said they hope to reopen The Woodford once again on Wednesday, January 5 and he is looking forward to welcoming back their customers once again. 

“We were due to reopen last Monday for a good run into the new year. We are hoping to open on Wednesday of next week and I can’t see why we won’t be able to. We are looking forward to seeing our customers and staff members again. We will miss ringing in the new year together.” 

The manager of The Woodford said a number of bars and restaurants in Cork are ‘struggling’ with the recent trajectory in positive cases which have left them finding it hard to replace existing staff members who are isolating for ten days. 

“There are a lot of bars and restaurants struggling with this. It is the smaller places that are struggling more. I hope this thing is burning itself out, but the numbers are concerning.

“It has been a tough time for all of us, I think psychology more than anything else with all the chopping and changing. There is nervousness among people who are in this as a career as they are wondering what the hell am I doing?” he added