Chinese mainland dining group Tansh Global Food has temporarily closed five of its 12 restaurants in Hong Kong as the novel coronavirus continues to spread.
On Saturday, the Hong Kong-listed company also shut all mainland restaurants under its dining chains Shanghai Min, The Dining Room, Maison de l'hui, Wolfgang Puck, and Doutor, as it seeks to ensure the safety of its employees and customers, Tansh said in a release on Monday.
It seeks to ensure the safety of its employees and customers, Tansh said in a release on Monday
The indefinite suspension will “almost certainly” weigh on the company’s cash flow and overall business, the release read. The group said the date that business will resume depends on the development of the epidemic and relevant government policies.
As of Tuesday, the Wuhan-originated coronavirus had infected over 20,000 people and claimed more than 400 lives on the mainland. Hong Kong has reported 17 confirmed infections with one fatality.
According to Jia Guolong, founder and chairman of Xibei Youmian Cun, a hybrid-style restaurant of Mongolian and Shanxi dishes, the brand will not be able to last three months if the epidemic persists — even if it borrows from the bank — because employees will continue to receive salaries totaling 150 million yuan ($21.4 million) a month.
The personnel expenditure, accounting for 30 percent of the cost of the enterprise, is at the moment the biggest problem that determines what the future holds for Jia’s company.
More than 10,000 employees are now in the dormitory that the enterprise provided for free — along with the employees’ food.
