Despite not being quarantined, some 150 guests sick with the gastrointestinal ailment norovirus remained on-site at a Crystal City hotel as of late Friday, the hotel’s general manager said.
“No guests who came down with it have left the hotel,” Hyatt Regency General Manager Jean-Marc Dizarb said. “There have been no new cases. We’re in the process of cleanup.”
The private firm brought in to disinfect the hotel is still at work, he said. The hotel won’t reopen until the clean up is complete.
About 150 guest fell ill from the virus. Employees of the hotel were also affected.
Initial reports of guests feeling sick came in Monday from people attending a conference at the hotel, which is located close to Reagan National Airport. The hotel was shut down yesterday and is not accepting guests.
Arlington County public health officials have monitored the area around the hotel to ensure the virus has not spread. It is advising the hotel as it completes its cleanup.
Symptoms of norovirus – which is caused by consuming contaminated food or water – include stomach cramping, vomiting and diarrhea, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In most cases, the contagious illness passes in two to three days.
This isthe second outbreak of the virus in Northern Virginia this year, and the third in the national capital region in the last four months.
Earlier this year, approximately 100 guests and employees fell ill during an outbreak at the Hilton Washington Dulles Airport Hotel in Herndon. In December, students at Catholic University in the District became sick with the virus.
