Restaurants

Water leak keeps Chipotle at center of norovirus outbreak from reopening

The Chipotle restaurant in Cleveland Circle has been closed since December 7. Steven Senne / AP

By Eric Levenson @ejleven

December 24, 2015

1 minute to read

The Chipotle in Cleveland Circle at the center of a recent norovirus outbreak did not reopen as planned on Thursday thanks to a late-night water leak.

Chipotle spokesperson Chris Arnold said officials are assessing the cause of the leak and will not reopen until any related damage is fixed. He declined to speculate on how long that would take.

The city ordered the Chipotle restaurant closed on Dec. 7 after about 140 people, largely made up of Boston College students, fell ill with symptoms of norovirus after eating there. A follow-up inspection found three critical health violations at the restaurant.

The leak has no connection to the norovirus outbreak, Arnold said.

Though officials said they could not pinpoint the origin of the outbreak, at least one worker who later tested positive for norovirus came to work on Dec. 3 despite feeling ill.

Norovirus is one of the most common food-borne illnesses and can cause stomach cramps, diarrhea, vomiting, and headaches.

William Christopher, commissioner of Boston’s Inspectional Services Department, said Chipotle passed a final inspection on Wednesday and would be cleared to reopen on Thursday morning.

Chipotle CEO Steve Ells recently apologized for the norovirus outbreak and for a series of unrelated E. Coli outbreaks across the country. As a recent Bloomberg Businessweek story explains, Chipotle has pledged to dramatically change its food safety procedures as a response to the health crisis.