Applebee’s restaurant on East Sunset Drive has, according to the Bellingham Herald, closed a second time Tuesday, Feb. 11, because two more employees have been sickened in a suspected norovirus outbreak.

It’s not known when the Whatcom County Health Department will allow the restaurant to reopen.

A total of 15 employees have reported becoming ill – most of them on Thursday, Feb. 6, and Friday, Feb. 7.

The health department closed the Applebee’s again Tuesday because it “was no longer confident that transmission of this illness has been interrupted,” said Tom Kunesh, supervisor for the health department’s Food and Living Environment Program.

The restaurant has been cooperating with the health department and will continue to do so to ensure everyone’s safety, Applebee’s spokesman Dan Smith said.

It’s unknown exactly how many restaurant-goers may have been sickened before both closures, although the health department has received 27 calls.