Grand Avenue Dairy Queen In Duluth Temporarily Closed

In what's becoming a sad trend for Northland business owners and our community, another businesses has announced they are temporarily closed due to COVID-19.

The Dairy Queen, located at 4431 Grand Avenue in Duluth, is the latest local business forced to temporarily close after an employee tested positive for the virus.

On Thursday, store owner Chuck Koltes made the announcement on his Facebook page:

Today I learned a staff member tested positive for Covid 19. For the safety of our Staff and customers I’ve temporarily closed the DQ until it is determined safe for everyone to be back together. Thank you for your patience and understanding. We look forward to seeing you all soon!

It's been a troubling week in the Northland with COVID-19.  St. Louis County is the fastest growing county in the state for positive cases, with the majority of new cases being discovered in the Duluth area.  A third of the new cases are being discovered in people in their 20's.

Prior to the Duluth Dairy Queen announcement, The Duluth Grill, Island Lake Inn and the Sammy's Pizza in West Duluth had already announced pandemic related closures this week alone.

Unfortunately, it's easy to assume that there will be more closures ahead and every business forced to close for any amount of time has a negative impact on the Northland economy.

We can only hope the increase in cases in our community does not lead to a drastic increase in hospitalizations, ICU patients and deaths.

Minnesota does have a mandatory mask order, which is the best way to slow down the spread of COVID-19, according to health experts.  Hopefully citizens will be diligent in following the advice of said experts to help protect their health and local businesses.