Two days before Sarah Palin tested positive for COVID-19, she dined at a New York City restaurant that is a magnet for celebrities, the manager confirmed on Monday.
Per the city's COVID regulations, patrons are required to present proof of vaccination before they are allowed to eat inside a New York City restaurant.
But apparently, no one checked Palin, the former governor of Alaska, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, for proof of vaccinations on Saturday night at Elios, a popular Italian restaurant on Manhattan's Upper East Side, Manager Luca Guettolini said.
"We are taking this isolated incident - and unfortunate oversight - very seriously," Guettolini said in a statement on Monday. "Elio adheres to and believes in the vaccine mandate, and is doing all it can to protect our employees, regulars and the dining public."
Guettolini said he was not working Saturday night and the restaurant is reaching out to other patrons who were eating at Elio's while Palin was there with a "regular" whom he declined to identify.
"My focus right now is on the safety of my employees, who worked on the floor that night, and our guests," Guettolini said in his statement.
Palin is in New York City for a defamation suit against the New York Times.
US District Judge Jade Rakoff in Manhattan, who is presiding over the case, announced that "Ms. Palin had tested positive for the coronavirus" as her case went on Monday.
"He is, of course, unconvinced," Rakoff said.
A statement from City Hall landed Palin in trouble.
"The key to the NYC regulations was put in place to protect all New Yorkers—including the small businesses that power our city's economy," it said. "Ms Palin should respect small business employees and follow the rules like everyone else."
Palin's lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday evening.
Palin and her family members tested positive for Covid-19 in April. At that time, she urged people to maintain social distance and wear masks.
Guettolini told The Times that the restaurant "just made a mistake" by not checking Palin's vaccination card.
Guettolini told the newspaper that the restaurant checks vaccination cards for all first-time customers, but not regular customers, and that Palin dined with a longtime guest.
City guidelines specify what proof of vaccination is and encourage restaurant operators to ask patron specific questions to weed out potentially sick patrons and "have a system in place to control the crowd at your front door. "
Officials said Elio is among 25,000 small businesses visited by city inspectors and found to comply with COVID requirements.