coronavirus

OC Restaurant Taking Temperatures Before Allowing Entry Amid Coronavirus Fears

Anyone that plans to eat at Sichuan Impression in Orange County will have their temperature checked for possible coronavirus symptoms.

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Be prepared to have your temperature checked if you want to eat at Sichuan Impression in Orange County or at one of its sister restaurants in Alhambra and West Los Angeles.

Lilly Lei, the restaurant owner, began checking customers' temperatures at the door with a hand-held infrared thermometer in late January as a response to the coronavirus outbreak.

But customers are not the only ones required to have their temperature checked. Employees are scanned twice a day and are sent home if their temperatures are abnormal. 

The owner has friends and family in China and has seen how businesses there have been affected, which prompted her to take action now.

In late January, the owner informed her customers of the protocol on the restaurant's Instagram page. The post said it will began using an infrared thermometer on all customers who wish to eat at Sichuan Impression as a prevention and control measure.

View this post on Instagram

Notice to Prevent and Control Wuhan New Coronavirus (nCoV) Our dearest friends of Sichuan Impression, After a Washington state resident was diagnosed with the new coronavirus infection, a second US case was confirmed in Chicago on the 24th. On the same day, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a top-level tourist warning for the outbreak in Hubei, China, recommending planned travelers to cancel any unnecessary trips to the area. (from BBC NEWS) As a Chinese restaurant rooted in Los Angeles that aims at thriving the traditional Chinese culinary culture, Sichuan Impression also pays close attention to the development of this new epidemic. According to the news, infections are rapidly spreading across China. We at Sichuan Impression respect and enjoy having our guests who come from all corners of the world. Offering you a healthy and safe dinning environment is also upheld as our top priority. After taking careful consideration, we wish to adopt the following prevention and control measures and we sincerely ask for the cooperation from each and every guest: 1. We will use infrared thermometer to measure the temperature of each guest who comes to dine; 2. If any abnormal symptom, such as fever, is identified, we will immediately assist to contact the nearest medical service; 3. If you refuse to cooperate with the temperature measurement, we have to regretfully deny the service to you for the time being; 4. We encourage everyone to order “to-go” for the time being, and will offer 5% off discount for the entire order. It has been 6 years since Sichuan Impression opened, and to treat everyone who comes to dine equally has always been our basic principle. We are grateful for your cooperation during this extraordinary period. Sichuan Impression January 26,2020 #sichuanimpression #锦城里

A post shared by Sichuan Impression (@sichuan_impression_) on

What may seem like an overly precautionary step is going over well with customers.

“They monitor all people coming here and I think it is good to avoid the spread of the virus,” said Kim Nguyen, a customer at the restaurant.

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The owner said she has not received push back from customers or her employees.

“I think it is a good idea because it makes people feel like the restaurant is taking care of them and making them responsible for not letting people with possible symptoms inside the restaurant,” James Qian, a customer at the restaurant said.

This is not the only precaution the restaurant has enforced. Workers disinfect dirty dishes before removing them off the table, wear gloves while bagging take-out orders, and wipe down the chairs.

None of her employees have become ill.

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