Several London branches of Mexican restaurant chain Wahaca have been closed temporarily after more than 300 customers and staff fell ill with suspected norovirus last week.

Public Health England and environmental health officers were called in after nine branches of the restaurant - including six restaurants in London - were affected by the stomach bug.

The branches concerned were all closed, however five have now re-opened.

Wahaca released a statement concerning their closed restaurants today (Thursday November 3), one day after the restaurant offered customers free tequila and tacos for its Day of the Dead celebrations.

Affected restaurants in London included:

  • White City
  • Canary Wharf
  • Soho
  • St Paul's
  • Oxford Circus
  • Covent Garden.

Branches in Soho, Oxford Circus, Covent Garden and Canary Wharf are currently all closed.

Among restaurants affected was the branch in Westfield Shopping Centre in White City, which the restaurant confirmed on Twitter has since been re-opened.

Norovirus is a common stomach bug that causes diarrhoea and vomiting, and is more common in winter.

The virus can spread rapidly in public places and can be caught through close contact with an infected person, touching contaminated surfaces or eating contaminated food.

In a statement, Mark Selby and Thomasina Miers, the restaurant co-founders, said: "Last week a number of our staff and customers were struck down by what is suspected to be the winter vomiting bug, norovirus.

"We assessed each case and when it became clear they were not isolated incidents, we got in touch with relevant officials at Public Health England and Environmental Health Offices.

"In tandem with that, we took our own precautionary measures - voluntarily closing affected restaurants, carrying out anti-viral deep cleaning at all of our restaurants, whether affected or not, and ensuring that any staff member who had reported illness remained off site until their symptoms had ceased for at least 48 hours.

"Our amazing teams have worked tirelessly to ensure that we have done everything within our power to limit any risk to our customers and team members, and the situation remains under control and we continue to work with all local authorities to monitor this closely.

"We are incredibly sorry that people have been unwell.

"In the 9 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."

A spokesman for Wahaca said that the majority of branches are open, and it hopes to re-open the remaining sites as soon as they are ready.

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