Downtown G.R. Bar Shut Down By Kent County Health Department

UPDATE: As of Monday evening, the Kent County Health Department has ordered a shut down of the establishment, according to MIBiz.

Their lack of compliance with those orders jeopardizes the health of the community and the ability of other businesses to remain open,” Kent County Health Department Director Dr. Adam London said in an email to MiBiz.

A Grand Rapids bar is responding to a viral video after getting lots of backlash for not adhering to social distancing.

The Social House Tavern in Downtown Grand Rapids took responsibility for the video showing a crowded dance floor at their establishment from this past weekend. The video was originally posted to Social House's Instagram Story and then shared on Facebook by a local chef whom expressed her concern. Her post had almost 50 shares and over 350 comments.

The Social House addressed it on their Facebook page saying they "could have done better."

We apologize for our shortcomings displayed in the video and have implemented internal changes to ensure that does not happen again.

The restaurant says they have been working closely with the Kent County Health Department on measures they should be taking. They say they've adjusted their hours of operation and remain closed Monday through Wednesday to sanitize and deep clean the place. Since reopening they've done temperature checks on all of their employees before work but after the viral video, they say they will now be checking temperatures on guests too.

They conclude that they will be doing things differently moving forward.

We are taking seriously the safety of our patrons and staff and realize we cannot become lax in any of our actions. We are grateful to be open again, and appreciate the opportunity to serve our customers again. We hope the temporary lack of judgement by a few patrons, and our failure to properly handle that situation can be forgiven.

I appreciate them taking responsibility but let's be honest, that was more than a "few" patrons who threw social distancing completely out the door.

I don't mean to be that person but now more than ever is SO vital that we all due our part to wear masks, social distance, wash our hands, and stay home when we're sick. Otherwise, we will be forced to shut down again as a state and I KNOW nobody wants that to happen.

Just a few weeks after reopening, already several establishments in Grand Rapids have closed after employees tested positive for COVID-19. This includes Donkey Taqueria, O'Tooles, Butcher's Union, the B.O.B., and Joey's Tavern.

In East Lansing, Harper's has been identified as one of the biggest COVID hotspots in the state with over 80 confirmed cases linked to the bar.

For the safety of everyone, PLEASE WEAR YOUR MASK! Sure, wearing a mask isn't fashionable but you don't look dumb wearing one while we're still in the middle of a pandemic. In fact, it's just the opposite.