A SHOP owner is asking customers to wear masks and disposable gloves in his store.

This followed confirmation on Thursday that a man from Brighton had contracted coronavirus.

"It has arrived in Brighton," a sign in the window of Yung Feng Oriental Food Store in London Road declared.

The Argus:

Shocked passersby stopped outside the store to read the sign.

The sign continued: "Our shop only take(s) delivery orders from today.

"...Or the store only accepts customer wear masks and disposable gloves, gloves available in our store (sic)."

The Argus:

Lincoln Zhang owns the store.

He said: "It is just in case, for safety.

"If customers do not have a mask we ask them to wait at the door and we get the item for them.

"My main customers at this store are Chinese, I don't want to take any risks."

He also said he had a thermometer in the store and was considering taking the temperature of people entering the store to make sure they did not have any symptoms of the disease.

The Argus:

Coronavirus is a new respiratory illness that has not previously been seen in humans.

The symptoms are a cough, a high temperature and feeling short of breath.

An NHS spokesman said: "Because it's a new illness, we do not know exactly how coronavirus spreads from person to person, but similar viruses spread by cough droplets.

"...There is no specific treatment for coronavirus.

"Treatment aims to relieve the symptoms."

Shopper Dawn Kirkham from Horsham thought the precaution taken by the shop was a good idea.

The 75-year-old said: "At the moment there is no antidote. If it spreads quickly then they can't do anything about it.

"It is worrying there is a case in Sussex, but he is isolated and I think everything is under control.

"It's a simple precaution (this shop has taken).

"Coronavirus has spread quickly in Asia, but if we keep it out we will be OK.

"We need to keep it under control and catch it at airports and on ferries."

The Argus:

But Cindy Cooper from Peacehaven said she was not concerned about the virus.

The 53-year-old said: "I think the sign is a bit over the top.

"Coronavirus is like swine flu and all the others, they just build up something to scare the life out of us when really it's nothing to be too worried about.

"If it was that serious they would be banning travel.

"I have cancer and a very low cell count and I'm still out, so there we go."

The Argus:

A middle-aged British man from Hove was confirmed to have contracted coronavirus on Thursday and was taken to hospital in London.

He is said to have caught the virus during a business event in Singapore. 

His family have also left the city "to be especially cautious" and "are spending some time together in a more secluded place," Hove MP Peter Kyle said.

The Argus:

The parent of a pupil at the Portslade Aldridge Community Academy (PACA) in Chalky Road, Portslade, has also been advised to "self-isolate" their child following advice from Public Health England, the school revealed in a letter to parents yesterday.