Some guests at Westchester Hilton got norovirus

WESTCHESTER COUNTY

It definitely wasn't what John Morris had in mind when he went to a fundraising brunch at the Rye Town Hilton back on Sunday, April 21st.

"So on a scale of one to 10, 10 being the worst, how bad was it?" Eyewitness News asked.

"It was like a nine and a half. No, it was not fun," said John Morris, a stomach bug patient.

He wasn't the only one who got sick.

There were hundreds of people who attended different events at the hotel.

Now, investigators from the Health Department, are trying to figure out what caused many of them to get sick.

"Vomiting, diarrhea, and generalized weakness," Morris said.

Health officials announced Wednesday that the illness was the norovirus, which is basically a group of viruses that can cause acute illness.

The hotel is taking precautions like having their kitchen and serving staff all wearing gloves, hotel touch screens are now disabled, since the virus can live up to 12 hours on a surface, and common areas have been cleaned by an outside contractor.

They've also made hand sanitizer more accessible.

John says he's definitely not the only one who's hoping investigators find answers.

"It was 165 people that had called the organization that had given the affair," Morris said, "Obviously the source of the contamination must have been something at the hotel."

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