Gig Harbor restaurant closes for suspected norovirus outbreak after 4 people got sick
UPDATE: The Hub in Gig Harbor was given the go-ahead to reopen.
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The Hub in Gig Harbor has closed temporarily following a suspected norovirus outbreak.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department closed the restaurant Monday morning after four people from separate households reported norovirus-like symptoms within 45 hours of eating at the restaurant.
Most of the diners said they got sick July 28 after attending a special event at The Hub Gig Harbor, 1208 26th Ave. NW, with 100 or so people on July 26.
“We spent the day yesterday cleaning the restaurant head to toe, and we hope to be open for lunch today,” said Pat Nagle, co-owner.
He said it’s the first time an illness of this kind has been reported at one of his restaurants. He also co-owns Hub restaurants in Tacoma and South Hill, plus the Harmon Taproom and Harmon Brewery in downtown Tacoma.
Health department officials will visit this morning to reinspect the restaurant before it reopens, which is the protocol for closures of this kind.
“We’re not sure what the source was,” said Nagle. “It was one event on the 26th, and we narrowed it down to that event. We don’t know where the source came from, whether it came from outside the restaurant or not.”
Employees discarded all food products and sanitized the restaurant, said Hub Gig Harbor general manager Michael Pearce. He said no customers have called the restaurant to report the illness. Rather, the first the restaurant learned of the suspected norovirus was from the health department reports.
This is the third suspected norovirus outbreak this year. In January, more than 500 people experiencing norovirus-like symptoms were linked to two El Toro restaurants. In April, about 38 customers reported norovirus symptoms after eating at Foley’s on the Green in Tacoma.
Anyone who ate at the The Hub and became ill is asked to call the Health Department at 253-798-4712 or email food@tpchd.org.
Symptoms for norovirus include vomiting and diarrhea and can last one to two days. It is highly contagious. The virus is a prolific pathogen that can live on surfaces for up to two weeks.
This story was originally published August 7, 2018 at 8:42 AM.