KAILUA-KONA — Shiono Sushi management on Tuesday said they are waiting on just one more employee to take and pass a hepatitis A test after being ordered to do so last month.
In July, the state Department of Health ordered all 25 employees at the restaurant’s Waikoloa location to test for the infection after an employee there contracted the disease.
The employee is believed to have contracted the disease on Oahu. No cases have been linked to the store.
Employees at the Waikoloa location were not allowed to return to work without a negative test result. The store remained open by staffing the store with employees from other Shiono Sushi stores in Kailua-Kona and Mauna Lani.
On Tuesday, Shiono Sushi administrating manager Yuka Kawakami said all of the test results have returned negative results, clearing 24 employees of the infection.
Kawakami said the last employee will return from vacation on Aug. 5 and has already scheduled a blood test.
She said so far though, there haven’t been any new cases at the store.
“We don’t have any complaints or claims from customers,” Kawakami said.
She said there was a small dip in customers in the day or two after reports first came out about the employee who was infected but business has rebounded.
“It got a little bit slow for a couple days,” she said. “But I don’t see much difference now.”
Kawakami said the employee who was diagnosed is still recovering away from the store with prayers from Shiono Sushi for a quick recovery. She said the company doesn’t hold anything against her.
“We don’t want this person to feel bad,” Kawakami said. “It could happen to anyone.”
The Department of Health said anybody who ate at the restaurant between July 5-21 may have been exposed to hepatitis A, but the risk of infection “is very low.”