Not a scheduled stop on a BC tour, a group of travelers from Australia became ill with Norwalk virus while staying at the Fairmont Chateau this week, reports Whistlerquestion.com.

Twenty-three guests were quarantined in their rooms for most of Monday and part of Tuesday (June 1 and 2), suffering from Norwalk virus, a public health official said this week.

The guests were part of a 100-member tour group from the Brisbane area in Australia.

 Dr. Paul Martiquet, public health officer with Vancouver Coastal Health, explained,

“Apparently there’s something in common that has caused [this group] to come down with this Norwalk virus.”

[T]he affected tour group recently rode the Rocky Mountaineer train from Calgary to Vancouver before visiting Whistler. The next stop on the itinerary was the Empress Hotel in Victoria, [Martiquet] said. Healthy members of the group were allowed to carry on with their itinerary.

Martiquet emphasized the importance of handwashing in control of noroviruses, continuing,

“It’s basically self-limiting and the key for any virus is handwashing — that goes for normal viruses or Norovirus, you name it.”