> In another corner of the strip mall, Mala Sichuan Bistro was about half full. Owner Cori Xiong said that’s not typical for this time. She estimates her business has dropped anywhere from 35 to 60 percent since the social media rumor started.
“We have had to decrease the shifts of our employees,” Xiong said, “and then had to temporarily lay off two of the kitchen crew.”
But the issue doesn’t seem to be with people outside of Chinatown shying away. Xiong said it’s that fewer Chinese people are coming. In fact, Xiong said, since the coronavirus rumors started, more non-Chinese people have …