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Mercedes Meat Market in Mastic Beach closed for two weeks on Friday after the owner was confirmed to have contracted the coronavirus.
Butcher Ramon Mercedes, 57, of Mastic, first went to the CityMD in Shirley when he began feeling sick last Monday, and “they told him he was fine and for him to take Tylenol,” his wife, Dawn, told GreaterMoriches. The couple has two children.
By Thursday, she insisted that he go to Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead, where he was tested for COVID-19. The test came back positive on Friday, Dawn Mercedes said, and the store was closed for two weeks while it is cleaned and sanitized. The store hired C&G Restoration to undertake the project.
Meanwhile, the Mercedes family is in quarantine.
“With this virus, you don’t even know you have it when you have it,” Mercedes said.
The store, located at 376 Neighborhood Road, closed Monday, March 23 — before Ramon Mercedes began feeling ill — so it could be cleaned following a rush of customers, Dawn Mercedes said.
Since the store announced Ramon had contracted the virus, hundreds of people have commented on social media, with many giving the Mercedes family a lift.
“There has been such an outpouring of community support, it’s amazing,” Dawn Mercedes said.
The store donated packaged meat, chicken wings, chicken legs and chopped meat, as well as milk, to PJ Balzar, who runs the group called the Kings Kids Christian Outreach in Mastic Beach. The group makes grocery boxes for people in need throughout the community.
Balzar said he has the meat in a freezer, but he’s not sure if he will distribute it at this point because of concerns raísed on social media.
Dawn Mercedes said Ramon is starting to feel better.
“It’s a little scary when you have a virus, but he’s a healthy man. I have my kids here and me, but he’ll be OK.”
Regarding the store’s closing, Mercedes said, “It’s the best thing to do. It’s a hard time to get meat, anyway, through distributors. And it’s not about business. It’s about keeping people safe.”
