Billerica Chipotle expected to reopen after norovirus concerns

A Chipotle restaurant in Billerica is expected to reopen on Thursday after one of its workers was diagnosed with norovirus.

One of the store’s workers has a confirmed case of norovirus, according to the town’s health department. The remaining two workers are suspected of having the virus. 

The public health inspector in Billerica said Wednesday the restaurant has been cleaned to his satisfaction and he anticipates the store will reopen Thursday. 

The are no reports of any customers becoming ill. The city’s health department says the restaurant voluntarily shut down on Tuesday. 

"When you have any sick employees with a communicable disease, it’s easy to transmit it to other employees and also to the general public that come into the establishment," Richard Berube, of the Billerica Board of Health, said. 

The state Department of Public Health has been notified, according to the Billerica Health Department. 

One of the sick workers is a Billerica High School student. She last worked at the store on Saturday, according to her father. She is recovering at home. 

School officials told parents parts of the school will be cleaned. 

The closing comes after the company’s Brighton store closed for several days after more than 150 people who ate there were diagnosed with the same virus. 

The company later apologized for customers’ sickness and held a meeting about food safety issues.

On Wednesday, Chipotle released a statement: 

Health inspectors visited our Billerica, Mass. restaurant today and found it to be nice, clean, and in great shape, which is consistent with the perfect health inspection score of 100% this restaurant received less than a week ago, on March 3. The health department was impressed by Chipotle: our paid sick leave policy, our procedures for excellent sanitation, and our proactive approach to making certain that no one worked while sick. We look forward to opening tomorrow.

We closed the restaurant on Tuesday after four of our employees — none of whom worked while sick — called to say they were at home and not feeling well. The health department has no reports of customer illness at this restaurant. 

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