A Chinese takeaway and chippy has urged customers to keep visiting their business amid coronavirus fears.

The Pearl River, in Reading, Berkshire, displayed a sign in their window telling customers that ‘staff and owners have not been to China in over 20 years’.

Owners of the takeaway, in Emmer Green, put up the sign reading ‘Important Notice’ in bold writing at the front of their business. It adds: ‘All ingredients are sourced within the UK from an EU source.’

A loyal customer spotted the sign and urged people on social media to ‘please continue to support a local Chinese takeaway’.

The post added: ‘When I picked up our order tonight, Pearl River in Emmer Green has posted this at their premises, due to a drop off in business, thanks to unnecessary prejudice around Coronavirus.’

It comes after the UK confirmed its first coronavirus-related death on Thursday. The patient, a woman, in her 70s who had been suffering with other health concerns, passed away at the Royal Berkshire Hospital.

A staff member at an infant school in Reading also tested positive for Covid-19 on March 1, prompting the school to close for several days. Following the news, other schools closed in the area to allow for a ‘precautionary deep clean.’

Numerous businesses across the UK have reported a sharp drop is business since the virus broke out in Wuhan, China, and started spreading across the world.

Even before the UK reported any confirmed cases, restaurant and shop owners in London’s Chinatown told Metro.co.uk they had already seen a huge drop in footfall.

The number of confirmed cases in the UK rose on Sunday to 278 and a man, in his 60s, became the third person to die from the virus, while being treated at North Manchester General Hospital.

A grandfather, in his 80s, became the second confirmed death at Milton Keynes Hospital on Friday, after he was admitted on March 3, with suspected pneumonia having recently returned from a cruise.

More than 23,500 people have been tested in the UK.

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