SCOTTSDALE, AZ — Riot Hospitality Group, the company behind a number of nightclubs and restaurants in the Valley, said people who visited two of their nightclubs in Scottsdale's Entertainment District over the weekend could have potentially come into contact with one of their employees who reportedly has a "communicable disease."
The employee, who was not working at the time, spent two minutes at El Hefe, 11:48 a.m. - 11:50 a.m., on Sunday, March 1, and four minutes at Riot House the same day, from 12:15 a.m. - 12:19 a.m., according to a statement released Thursday evening on Riot House's Facebook page.
Both night clubs are located within walking distance of each other near Scottsdale and Camelback roads.
"Protecting the safety of our customers and employees is at the forefront of every decision we make," the statement said. "Out of an abundance of caution, we are taking responsible measures to inform our customers and staff of potential interaction with someone who has a communicable disease. We have been working closely with the Maricopa County Department of Public Health and they have informed us emphatically that there is no risk to our customers or our employees."
The statement did not specify what the communicable disease was. A media contact for the restaurant group would also not specify what the communicable disease was nor if it was related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Arizona has had two confirmed cases of coronavirus in recent weeks.
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However, in a secondary post on Riot House's Facebook page, the restaurant group wrote, "As a follow up to our previous post, please see the following from the Maricopa County Public Health Department," which was a screenshot of a press release related to COVID-19 (embedded below).
Sonia Singh, a spokesperson for Maricopa County Public Health, confirmed that the agency was in contact with the restaurant group, specifically about cleaning, but was unable to say whether the communicable disease was related to the COVID-19 pandemic or not.
"The Maricopa County Department of Public Health has reported to us that because of the small amount of time that the employee was there, and had very limited interaction with customers and staff, there is absolutely no health danger at either location," Riot House's statement continued.
A professional cleaning company was brought in to clean both venues "out of an abundance of caution," Riot House said.
