A CHINESE restaurant in Royal Wootton Bassett has temporarily closed its doors because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Owner James Huynh decided to close the restaurant on the High Street until March 17 after business slowed.

He told the Adver: “People are just worried and staying at home now. There’s a lot of negative news about it and so for now people aren’t wanting to go out in general.

“We’ve shut it down for now because it seemed pointless when we weren’t really getting much business.

“Throughout January and February the restaurant has been quiet because of the virus. “Now Swindon has had a couple of cases it’s caused people to panic even more. ”

Hand sanitisers have been put in around the restaurant ready for when it reopens to help prevent the spread of covid-19.

“As a business you have to think about the safety of the restaurant, its customers and staff. The way I see it this is a sensible move, it’s a positive thing and not a negative thing,” he stressed.

Mr Huynh, who opened Oriental Aroma in 2006, said he had seen a financial impact on his business but he was hoping the closure will be seen as something positive and encourage people to come back.

“We want to open for Mother’s Day to see how it is, if it’s still quiet then we might have to shut for a couple of months.”

The virus, which has infected more than 100,000 people globally, including four in Wiltshire and resulted in almost 4,000 deaths, has brought a rise in racist abuse towards Chinese people.

Verbal insults have been issued and hate comments posted online and Mr Huynh said he has noticed people behaving differently when they see him.

He told the Adver: “Speaking fluent English like I do does help. When people come over as being racist I do put them in their place. The coronavirus is not a Chinese virus as they claim it to be.

“I haven’t had verbal racial abuse but I have had people jokingly walking past and using their hand to cover their mouth. I just laugh, I think they’re not being that serious. It does bother me a bit because on one hand they’re only doing that because I’m Chinese but you’ve just got to take it with a pinch of salt. Otherwise it escalates and gets worse really.”