Hotel shuts after 100 guests fall ill
More than 450 guests have been sent home from an award-winning hotel on the Isle of Wight after a major outbreak of gastro-enteritis.
Managers of the Bembridge Coast Hotel, at Bembridge, took the decision to shut for five days yesterday after guests began falling ill last week.
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| Bembridge Coast Hotel: "brave" decision |
The three-star, 234-bedroom Bembridge Coast Hotel is the largest on the Isle of Wight.
The hotel, owned by Warner Holidays, had been full at the time of the outbreak.
General manager Mark Flinton said no one had been hospitalisd by the illness. He said Mondays were change-over day and guests due to arrive yesterday were contacted and offered alternative dates.
Offers would also be made to a small number who had been forced to leave midway through their break.
It is thought a guest from a coach party brought the illness into the hotel.
Á¢Â€ÂœIt appears someone travelled to the hotel while ill and passed on the virus to other guests,Á¢Â€Â Flinton said.
Á¢Â€ÂœThe virus has proved to be highly contagious.Á¢Â€Â
Nigel Coward, Isle of Wight Council environmental health manager, said: Á¢Â€ÂœClosing the premises is the sure-fire way of breaking the cycle of the virus because it cannot survive outside the body for more than three days.
Á¢Â€ÂœThe decision by the hotel to close is a correct and brave one.Á¢Â€Â
A company statement said: Á¢Â€ÂœThe hotel called in a consultant from the public health department of the Isle of Wight Council following a number of guests reporting similar symptoms of sickness over the weekend.
Á¢Â€ÂœThe investigation quickly concluded the cause to be an airborne viral infection that was likely to have been introduced by a single guest who was ill on arival.
Á¢Â€ÂœThe hotel regrets any inconvenience caused and has organised alternative options or refunds for guests who have had their break cancelled.Á¢Â€Â
