MELBOURNE, Fla. — Many Central Florida residents are upset with restaurants that had people packed in for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations Tuesday evening.
Some said those restaurants are using a loophole allowed in Gov. DeSantis’ order restricting normal operations.
Channel 9′s Lauren Seabrook received video from inside of an Irish pub in downtown Melbourne that appeared to show a decent sized gathering amid coronavirus concerns with an expletive in the caption showing the crowd of Meg O’Malley’s.
Many people who saw the video were outraged.
(THREAD) Last night, a party at Meg O'Malley's in Melbourne looked like a normal St. Patrick's Day celebration. But we're not living in normal times. Many people expressed outrage that the restaurant had a crowd of people while #covid19 is ... @WFTV https://t.co/j15HofbzVb
— Lauren Seabrook (@LSeabrookWFTV) March 18, 2020
Locals were left wondering why restaurants were given so much leeway when it comes to the public’s health and why the governor didn’t close them down like so many other states are doing across the nation.
The owner of Meg O’Malley’s said to do the right thing and canceled the St. Patty’s street party and parade. He also said he kept the restaurant under 50 percent capacity and that someone at the door made sure they never had more than 145 people in the building that holds 300.
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For many restaurant owners, this was an especially tough time for these restrictions to come down with St. Patrick’s day plans already underway.
They were forced to try to strike a balance between paying their employees and keeping customers safe.
Channel 9 reached out to the man who posted the video, and he says he stands by his original statement about the virus.
We also received the following statement from Meg O’Malley’s owner L.J. Burr:
"For 20 years, Meg O’Malley’s has followed governor-mandated restaurant guidelines to achieve guest safety. We trust that the governor makes prudent decisions, and yesterday, on St. Patrick’s Day, the new guidelines of 50 percent occupancy and six feet of recommended spacing were adopted at 4 p.m. Meg O’Malley’s is in full compliance; we are providing ample spacing for guests to sit within the mandated guidelines but guest interactions are beyond our control.”
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