After a recent bout with E.coli and norovirus, it appears that select Chipotle restaurants are once again experiencing contamination issues . A Billerica, Massachusetts Chipotle has voluntarily closed its doors, according to this WCVB report, after an employee was diagnosed with norovirus, which can be contracted through either contaminated surfaces, food or water. Up to four employees are suspected of being under the weather at this particular time, but one of them has a confirmed case of norovirus, and hasn’t returned to the restaurant since being diagnosed.
According to the report, the restaurant is cleared to re-open on Friday. In December, over 140 people reported symptoms of norovirus, causing Chipotle to shut down every store nationwide for a day to go over food safety protocols. Afterwards, Chipotle CEO Steve Ells took out an apologetic one-page ad in the Boston Globe. A Billerica Board of Health spokesperson, Sandra Giroux, made it clear that Chipotle customers had no reason to be alarmed this time around. “The employees did not come into the restaurant, they called in sick,” and the store is in the process of “throwing away all the food items in the store and sanitizing everything according to their new protocol.”
In addition to their fairly recent norovirus issue, in January, the chain came under investigation after an apparent E. coli outbreak across 14 different states, which undoubtedly contributed to Chipotle’s $72 million loss of business last quarter.