Couple from China refused meal in a Chinese restaurant due to coronavirus scare

Teacher Matthew Moore and his wife Huang Quan Xiang were stunned when they were asked to leave the Beijing Restaurant in Leyland during a holiday visit to relatives.

“That’s the last place we would have expected it to happen,” said Matthew, who has been living in China for five years. “It was so embarrassing being told to leave in front of other customers.”

Matthew and Xiang live in Chengdu, in Sichuan province - more than 700 miles from the source of the virus in Wuhan.

“But the manager of the restaurant told us we should be in self-isolation for 14 days here and said he wouldn’t serve us,” said Xiang.

“We’d already been in quarantine for a month in China. We told him that, but he said we couldn’t stay and asked us to leave.”

The incident highlights the uncertainty surrounding coronavirus and the advice available as authorities try to halt its spread.

The man who asked the couple to leave the restaurant said he did so because they had only arrived in Britain from China two days earlier. He claimed he had contacted 111 to check before he declined to serve them.

“I admit it’s very confusing,” said manager Jacky, himself Chinese. “I told them they had to self-quarantine for 14 days coming from China. That’s what 111 told me and that’s how I understand it.

“There were other guests in the restaurant and they were getting quite concerned. I was nice about it, but I had to say I couldn’t serve them.

“It’s hard to turn down business. But we have a duty to protect our guests and our staff and I couldn’t put anyone at risk.”

But advice given out by the Government suggests the couple had no need to self-isolate because they had not travelled from a high risk area of China and were not exhibiting any symptoms.

Matthew and Xiang arrived in Leyland last week for a two-month holiday.

“Because of the precautions in China we’ve had to stay in our flat for about a month over there,” explained Matthew. “You are only allowed out just one person once every two days for shopping and water. Most places are on high alert, even though we don’t live anywhere near Hubei province.

“So we’ve come over here for a holiday. I wanted to show my wife my home town.

“But the episode in the restaurant has ruined the whole trip. Since it happened Xiang hasn’t wanted to go out.

“She feels she has been shamed in public.

“The way the man in the restaurant did it was very rude. He could have asked us quietly to leave, but he did it in front of all the other customers, so it was very embarrassing.

“He just said out loud, ‘I hope you’ve had two weeks of quarantine, or you’re not allowed to sit in here’.

“The worst thing you can do in China is to shame someone in front of other people. That’s the lowest of the low. No one would ever do that to you in China.

“We had already been in quarantine back in China and we had been cleared there and at Heathrow. We knew we were fine.

“But the way we were treated was awful. It’s sad really because everyone else has been really welcoming since we arrived.”

Matthew teaches in a public school in Chengdu. Xiang is an office manager. The couple are staying in Leyland with Matthew’s parents, both of whom were with them when they were refused a meal.

“I felt very sorry for my family,” said Xiang. “They felt angry. It was a bit unpleasant.”