A popular restaurant in Colchester is temporarily closed after town officials said it violated social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Town of Colchester First Selectman Mary Bylone said she closed down Harry's Place on Tuesday night.
"In the parking lot, there were 50-some cars. There were a bunch of motorcycles. People were not staying with their...they were kind of staying in their vehicles, but the motorcyclists were you know, up and around. They had made themselves a picnic area in the back on the back of a pick-up truck," Bylone said.
There were also concerns about employees at the restaurant, she added.
"The employees were not wearing masks. They were not social distancing. They were up close with people taking their orders and then inside where they were working, they were too close together," Bylone added.
She said the owner of Harry's Place was extremely cooperative when he learned the restaurant would be shut down.
"We love Harry's and Harry's is an icon in our community and I have done everything I could to try and keep them open. We have worked with them, things have been improved for short periods of time, but even the owner himself admits that he really can't control the situation," Bylone said.
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On Wednesday, the owner of Harry's is expected to meet with the director from the Dept. of Public Health and with town officials to draw up a plan for remediation to be able to reopen as soon as possible, according to Bylone.
"If you're somebody that goes to Harry's, you know, if you're compliant and you see somebody who isn't, speak up. Speak up because we want Harry's to be there when we get to the other side," she added.
So far, Colchester has six confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to data released by the state on Tuesday.
There are more than 7,700 cases of coronavirus in Connecticut and at least 277 people have died.
