It’s true that COVID-19 originated in China. That’s where the first cases were reported before the virus spread across the world and turned into a global pandemic.

While it’s true that COVID-19 started in China, one business has made the leap to blaming China for why their business, an Italian restaurant in the United States, is struggling to stay open.

Many businesses are struggling as a result of COVID-19. Towards the beginning of the pandemic, lockdown orders forced many businesses to close their doors and left many employees out of work. In order to compensate for the job loss and business shut downs, the federal government issued stimulus checks and made a major increase to unemployment checks. In some cases, people on unemployment found that they were making more on unemployment than they were at their old job.

Now, many businesses that rely on minimum wage employees are finding it extremely difficult to hire people. Even when offering hiring bonuses, some businesses can’t find enough employees to keep their business up and running.

Kimberly Yacone and her husband Robert Yacone own a restaurant called Forghedaboutit Southwest Italian which is located in Deming, New Mexico. They have decided to temporarily shut down their restaurant because of how hard it is to find employees.

Before they locked up, they posted a sign outside their restaurant that is extremely controversial. The sign simply reads, “Blame China.”

In an interview with KRQE, Kimberly explained that the sign was intended to mean that they’re blaming the Chinese government for COVID-19 resulting in their struggling business. She emphasizes that they are in no way blaming Chinese Americans. She also said they have no plans to change or remove the sign.

Watch the video below for more on this controversial sign and to hear Kimberly’s side of the story.

Do you know anyone whose business has been forced to close due to circumstances of COVID-19? Do you think the “Blame China” sign should be removed?