Mayor Slams Sarah Palin for Dining Out While Infected with COVID, Tells Close Contacts: 'Get Tested'

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Mayor Eric Adam's office is addressing Sarah Palin's decision to dine out at New York City restaurants after testing positive for COVID-19.

"By repeatedly flouting CDC guidelines, Ms. Palin has shown a complete disregard for the health and safety of small business workers and her fellow patrons," Adams' spokesman Jonah Allon said in a statement. "The city offers multiple resources to support isolation for those who test positive for COVID-19, and we encourage Ms. Palin to join the 98 percent of New Yorkers who report they have followed guidance on isolation and have helped New York City stop the spread."

The commentator, former Alaska governor and Republican vice-presidential candidate was in town ahead of a trial for a libel lawsuit she brought against The New York Times. The start of that trial was pushed back by a federal judge after he learned Palin was infected. (Jury selection is now set to begin Feb. 3.)

RELATED: Sarah Palin Tests Positive for COVID — Again — as NYT Defamation Trial Was Set to Begin

It's apparently the second time Palin, 57, has been diagnosed with COVID after she announced an earlier infection last year. But that reportedly hasn't stopped her from visiting New York City restaurants right before and after being tested.

According to the Times, Palin ate indoors at Elio's in Manhattan on Saturday before getting tested. The restaurant said it made a mistake allowing her to eat there because it requires guests to provide proof of vaccination to eat indoors, and Palin is not vaccinated.

RELATED: Sarah Palin Reveals COVID Diagnosis and 'Bizarre' Symptoms, Urges Others to Continue Wearing Masks

She was back at Elio's on Wednesday after her positive test results were revealed, the Upper East Side eatery's manager said. "In accordance with the vaccine mandate and to protect our staff, we seated her outdoors," Luca Guaitolini told the website Gothamist. "We are a restaurant open to the public, and we treat civilians the same."

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The city's vaccine requirement applies to indoor dining.

The night before her return to Elio's, Palin ate at Campagnola, another Italian restaurant, whose staff sat her party outside.

"We encourage any New Yorker who came into contact with Sarah Palin to get tested, just as we encourage all New Yorkers to get tested regularly, especially those who believe they may have been exposed to COVID-19," the mayor's spokesman told PEOPLE.

RELATED: Sarah Palin Discusses Her Second COVID Diagnosis

"It'll be over my dead body that I'll have to get a shot," Palin said at AmericaFest 2021 in December. "I will not do that. I won't do it, and they better not touch my kids either."

On Monday, Palin appeared on Fox News and said she felt "totally fine" after her most recent diagnosis.

"There are more viruses on Earth than there are stars in the sky," Palin told the network's Jesse Watters. She added that the virus was being used to "control the people."

A spokesman for her did not immediately respond to a request for comment from PEOPLE.