Chipotle to Shut Down all Stores on Feb. 8

Chipotle Mexican Grill announced that it will be closing down all locations across the United States starting on Feb. 8 in a continued effort to ensure that their food products are safe to consume. The restaurant chain did not say how long the stores will be shut down on that day.

"We are still working on details," said Chris Arnold, the company's director of communications reported by the Washington Post. "[O]ur restaurants will be closed part of the day Feb. 8. We are hosting a national team meeting to thank our employees for their hard work through this difficult time, discuss some of the food safety changes we are implementing, and answer questions from employees. "

Chipotle founder and co-CEO Steve Ells said at the investor conference, reported by USA TODAY, "We're going to let all of our folks know about how this happened, and, in detail, all the steps that we're taking to ensure that it won't happen again."

The meeting with some 60,000 Chipotle employees from nearly 2,000 locations will take place via a live satellite feed.

The news comes after Chipotle was tied to two outbreaks this past winter. In the first outbreak involving E. coli, 52 people from nine states reportedly fell ill after eating at a Chipotle. The source of the bacteria is still unknown.

The second outbreak occurred at a single location in Boston. In December, Chipotle closed down the Cleveland Circle location after more than 130 college students contracted nororvirus. The location was reopened within weeks.

Chipotle is also involved in a criminal investigation into a single case of norovirus that happened a Simi Valley, California location back in August.

The company revealed last week that sales in stores that have been opened for at least one year have fallen by 30 percent in December.

Ellis stated, "I'm confident we'll recover from this and win back our customers."