Suspected case of norovirus hits Halifax restaurant

Capital Health officials are investigating a suspected case of Norovirus at a popular Halifax restaurant, after several staff members and customers got sick earlier this week.

On Thursday, some people who were at The Bicycle Thief complained of acute gastroenteritis symptoms.

"As the owners of The Bicycle Thief, we took a precautionary step to close the restaurant Saturday evening," said owners Stephanie and Maurizio Bertossi in a statement.

Individuals who had symptoms reported feeling better within 12 hours, they said.

Shauna Robar says she is still recovering after being sick for days.

"My friends and I went out for a celebratory dinner at The Bicycle Thief and we all had our dinners there and we were fine.  And then all of us — for me it was around 1:30 in the morning — we all started getting sick."

"We were sick throughout the entire night. I've actually never been that sick in my life," she said.

Robar says one of her friends went to the hospital, where other sick people told her friend they had eaten at the restaurant on Thursday night.

Stephanie Bertossi says 14 of her 80 staff members also got sick.

"We're unsure of what's going on right now. We've had a couple of clients contact us as well that they have become ill," she said.

Bertossi has closed the restaurant until Tuesday.

"We apologize to our loyal customers for the inconvenience and we look forward to Tuesday," the statement said.

Officials at the Capital Health District are investigating, the Department of Health confirmed.