The corona virus (also known as Covid-19, according to the World Health Organization), originating in Wuhan City (Hubei Province), has caused nearly 45,000 people to be infected and 1,113 to die in China. 11/2. In the US, only 12 cases have been confirmed to be infected with the virus and the risk of spreading the virus to the public is relatively low.
However, misleading health information, including warnings to avoid Asian food and densely populated areas of Asian origin, is still circulating, and a range of malicious comments and jokes. about Chinese or Asians has increased on the internet.
“I am very worried and unfortunately so. There is no reason for the American public to be concerned about Asians in our community. I’m really sad to hear these stories, ”Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Vaccines and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told Xinhua news agency.
Dr. Marybeth seּxton, an associate professor at the Department of Infectious Diseases at Emory University School of Medicine, made the same comments.
“All infected patients have been quarantined at home or hospitalized, and health officials are closely monitoring anyone at risk. There is no reason to worry that anyone you meet in public, from any race or country, could put you at risk, ”the expert said.
It is important for the American public to combat any discrimination around the corona virus and to promote understanding, officials, doctors, businessmen and CDC experts said in interviews with Xinhua.
Misunderstanding and lack of information about the corona virus are a greater danger than the virus itself, observers warn, adding that public health concerns should not justify European stigma. ASIAN.
Against discrimination
In recent weeks, an 8-year-old boy in Washington state wearing a mask has been asked to leave by a Costco supermarket employee because he may be from China. Students at Columbia University in New York encountered a Chinese message that "Wuhan virus isolation area" on a board at a school library. A medical service center at the University of California at Berkeley (UC-Berkeley) views discrimination against Asians as a normal response in an Instagram social media post to control concerns and concerns about outbreak of disease. Videos of Asians eating bats with inaccurate speculations about the cause of the virus outbreak and defamatory comments have spread rapidly. The Wall Street Journal also published an opinion article titled "China is the true sick of Asia."
The press published on the incidents has caused outrage in the public, causing many people to speak out and concrete actions to be taken.
Hair salon is absent in New York, USA (Image: Xinhua)
Costco apologized to the boy and his family. Columbia University has called on students to report incidents of discrimination. UC-Berkeley University changes the message. The video of the much-shared bat was discovered filmed in the island nation of Palau in the Pacific. Netizens criticized the Wall Street Journal’s opinion, and a call to apologize to the Chinese community attracted 113,000 people to sign in just a few days.
Mr. Peter Koo, a member representing District 9 of New York City Council, where a third of the population is of Chinese origin, said that the new virus should not be called Wuhan corona virus or Chinese corono virus. .
Meanwhile, a video recently uploaded to social networking site Twitter showed a man cursing an Asian woman wearing a mask at a subway station in Manhattan and shouting, "Don’t touch me." . The man called her "illness," according to Tony He, who uploaded the video online.
Asians often have a habit of wearing masks to protect themselves from allergies, dirt and smog. Since the outbreak of the disease, many Chinese wearing masks have been victims of stigma due to growing fears of corona virus in the US public.
Emphasizing that his office has received complaints from parents whose children were bullied at school for wearing a mask, Koo said that although Americans often wear masks when they are sick, people Asians should not be discriminated against for wearing them.
“I hope that Americans will understand that when Asians wear masks, that doesn’t mean they are sick. But it takes time and education to change cultural perceptions, ”he said.
Angela Wang, owner of a hair salon in the Flushing neighborhood, said one-third of his regular customers were previously non-Chinese, but two days after his employees started wearing masks, they don’t come to the shop anymore. The number of Chinese visitors also decreased.
“We’ve all removed the masks but the business has dropped by 90% in the past week. If customers do not return, we may have to close within two months, ”Wang, who
emigrated from Zhejiang province (China) to the US 18 years ago, sadly said.
Wang’s store is just one of many shops, which have economic difficulties, as Flushing’s business operations have declined about 30% recently. An anonymous sales manager at a famous dim sum restaurant believes that this has been a big shock to the area for many years.
Witnessing the fear of viruses affecting businesses in Chinese neighborhoods and Asian communities like Flushing, New York City officials advised people not to change their daily activities.
New York City Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot even goes to eat at Chinese restaurants, participates in Chinese neighborhood activities and shares his experiences on Twitter.
The flu is a bigger threat in the US
While the corona virus continues to dominate the world press, officials and doctors also remind the American public that the flu is actually a bigger threat.
Peter Koo said that, in New York, where there has been no case of coronavirus infection so far, people with the disease are at greater risk of getting sick from the flu than corono viruses.
“Vaccination is an effective way. If someone is ill with respiratory illness symptoms, they should wear a mask in a medical lounge to avoid infecting patients, ”said Dr. seּxton.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that at least 22 million people have contracted the flu this season, of which 210,000 have been hospitalized and 12,000 flu-related deaths.
