As a child of the 80s in Southern Ontario I grew up like many others: living for cross-border shopping trips to Buffalo, Rochester or Syracuse and convincing my parents to buy my toys at Walmart and Hills (those were not in Canada). A favorite dinner spot for our family was the Ground Round. There was Genny Cream Ale on tap (for my parents) and bowls of popcorn on the table (for me).

A Ground Round restaurant in Minnesota has closed following a community norovirus outbreak affecting over 30 individuals and according to the Winona Daily News is going through a deep clean.

Winona County health officials announced the outbreak Wednesday. Doug Schultz, the Minnesota Department of Health spokesman for foodborne illnesses, said the department learned of the situation in Winona County on Sept. 30, but norovirus illnesses may have started a week before that.

Norovirus, a highly-contagious illness that causes vomiting and diarrhea, was confirmed in people who ate at the Ground Round restaurant in Winona, Schultz said. He pointed out that the virus is not linked to a single event or location and is being transmitted in the community, so the number of people sickened will likely increase.

When Ground Round was informed of the presence of the virus, they closed voluntarily so they could deep-clean the facility, Schultz said.

Ground Round owner Tim Beier said the restaurant voluntarily closed to take extra precautionary measures for the safety of employees and guests. It has not yet reopened but plans to soon.

What’s missing in the coverage is how many of the community illnesses are linked to eating at the Ground Round and whether any staff showed up to work ill. Some must be linked to the restaurant or a deep clean wouldn’t be warranted.