Wahaca in Westfield Reopens after Suspected Norovirus Outbreak
Co-founders 'incredibly sorry' following 'unprecedented incident'
Wahaca in Westfield Shopping Centre
Nine Wahaca restaurants, including one on Westfield's Southern Terrace in Shepherd's Bush, which were voluntarily closed following a suspected outbreak of norovirus have now reopened.
The Mexican restaurant group closed the restaurants after more than 200 staff and 160 diners started to fall ill during the week before last.
The first of the restaurants to close was in Manchester on 26 October, and Wahaca took action to close eight others when it became clear that it was not an isolated incident.
The eight other restaurants were in London's Soho, Covent Garden, Oxford Circus, St Paul's, White City and Canary Wharf, as well as Cardiff and Brighton.
In a statement, co-founders Thomasina Miers and Mark Selby said: "We are incredibly sorry that people have been unwell. In the nine years since we first opened Wahaca we have never had such an unprecedented incident, and we are doing everything we can to get to the bottom of how this may have happened.
"We continue to monitor the situation carefully and, as ever, will take any precautionary measure necessary to safeguard the health and wellbeing of our customers and team members."
Following the suspected outbreak of the virus, also known as the winter vomiting bug, Wahaca contacted officials at Public Health England and environmental health offices and carried out anti-viral deep cleaning at all of its restaurants, whether affected or not.
It said it also ensured that staff members who had reported illness remained off site until their symptoms had ceased for at least 48 hours.
Norovirus is one of the most common stomach bugs, causing diarrhoea and vomiting, and can be caught at any time of the year.
It can spread rapidly in public places and can be caught through close contact with someone with the virus, touching contaminated surfaces or eating contaminated food that has been handled by an affected person who has not washed their hands.
November 10, 2016