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Coronavirus: Too Close to Home?

By Linda Zheng

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IWAS IN WUHAN WHEN THE LOCKDOWN HAPPENED, BECAUSE I WENT BACK FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR. The lockdown made this New Year feel so sad - we all cancelled our gatherings and big family dinners, and could only stay at home to celebrate. At the moment, my life in Wuhan is all about my phone, my laptop, and the TV. There’s no one on the street, all the shops are closed, and we all need to pass a temperature test when entering the neighborhood.”

Fai, a 24 year old who had visited Wuhan for Chinese New Year, got caught in the city after officials put Wuhan under lockdown on January 23 to contain the spread of a novel virus. “2019-nCoV or “2019 novel coronavirus” is a new strain of coronavirus that has spread from the epicenter of Wuhan, Hubei Province, China to 20 other countries including the US, Australia, Canada, France and many more. 1

Coronaviruses are a family of virus that typically spread between animals such as camels, cats and bats, and there are at least three strains that have infected and spreads between humans: MERS, SARS and now 2019-nCoV. 2

Healthcare professionals believe 2019-nCoV spread from an unknown animal species to humans at a live animal market in Wuhan. 3

Since the outbreak in December 2019, there have been more than 71,000 confirmed cases worldwide and at least 1,700 reported deaths.

Chinese New Year is China’s most important public holiday and usually marks a time for celebrations, family reunions and eating delicious food across the nation. In Wuhan this year, however, the normally busy streets of this transport and industrial hub are empty as residents heed government advice to stay inside. As word of the virus spread, millions of Chinese people were forced to cancel their flights and call off large family gatherings. Cities across China shut down their celebrations and tourist attractions to prevent further infections. Instead of buying lotus root and nian gao (sweet rice cake), many were rushing to stock up on surgical masks, hand sanitizers and thermometers for family and friends. Now, it is almost

1 https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/01/24/798661901/wuhancoronavirus-101-what-we-do-and-dont-know-about-a-newly-identified-disease 2 https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/summary.html 3 https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/01/20/797926447/coronavirus-in-china-over-200-cases-human-to-human-transmission

impossible to find face masks in stores in Taipei, Hong Kong, or Manila. 4 Although measures have been taken to contain 2019-nCoV, the spread of discrimination within China and racism abroad has been much harder to prevent. An estimated five million people left Wuhan before the city was put under lockdown, and they are now facing abuse for fear of spreading the virus. 5

As paranoia grows, Wuhan residents have been turned away from hotels and guesthouses, and targeted by local authorities in China. 6 Some videos have surfaced online, reportedly showing the homes of Wuhan residents barricaded by wooden planks or metal bars and displaying notices such as: “This household has Wuhan returnees, please do not come into contact with them.” 7

In a now deleted post on Weibo, one user lamented her circumstances as she was kicked out of her guesthouse and turned away from several hotels and guesthouses as well. 8

With no train stations stopping in Wuhan, she was unable to find shelter inside or outside of Wuhan.

Existing prejudice and misinformation has stoked fear and paranoia around the world. It is common to see people wearing face masks in China or other East Asian countries in order to protect against germs or pollution but elsewhere, a face mask can be an indication of sickness or poor health. In the midst of 2019-nCoV, Asian-Americans have been the target of much abuse for wearing face masks as a precautionary measure. Yiheng Yu, a designer from New York City, was accosted by a woman outside of her office for wearing a face mask: “She started yelling, ‘Are you Crazy? Get the heck out of here,” said Yu, 34. “I realised it was because I was wearing a mask.” 9

In some cases, a small cough can even trigger vitriol from bystanders as noted by

4 https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-02-07/asia-china-coronavirus-face-surgical-masks 5 https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/01/asia/coronavirus-wuhan-discrimination-intl-hnk/index.html 6 https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/01/asia/coronavirus-wuhan-discrimination-intl-hnk/index.html 7 https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/01/asia/coronavirus-wuhan-discrimination-intl-hnk/index.html 8 https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/01/asia/coronavirus-wuhan-discrimination-intl-hnk/index.html 9 https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3050645/ coronavirus-concerns-take-hold-us-exposing-asian

Ron Kim, a New York State assembly member: “I had a staff member who was in the Albany train station and she was coughing a little bit and someone approached her asked if she had the virus.” 10 Xenophobia is not just occurring in individual cases, but has also gained momentum through higher institutions and the media. In a now deleted infographic posted on an official UC Berkeley instagram page, ‘xenophobia’ or “fears about interacting with those who might be from Asia and guilt about these feelings” is considered “common” and “normal”. Adreinne Shih, a Twitter user, posted this tweet in reaction to the UC Berkeley post: “Confused and very angry about this instagram post from an official (UC Berkeley) Instagram

Photo from @adrienneshih on Twitter

account. When is xenophobia ever a ‘normal reaction’?” Because of backlash from users online, UC Berkeley later retracted the infographic and published an apology online. Many newspapers have faced similar outrage for their racist headlines and coverage of the coronavirus. The front page of a French newspaper announced “Yellow Alert” alongside a picture of an Asian woman with a face mask on while another headline in the same paper suggested the threat of a “New Yellow Peril.” 11 Racist rhetoric used in the news to describe the recent coronavirus outbreak mirrors the jokes and internet memes

10 https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3050645/coronavirus-concerns-take-hold-us-exposing-asian 11 https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/31/asia/wuhan-coronavirus-racism-fear-intl-hnk/index.html

that have been circulating online. The new wave of memes to surface blame Chinese people for causing the virus. The claim is linked to a video that went viral of a Chinese woman by the name of Wang Menyun eating a bat. 12

It has since been determined that Mengyun shot the video in 2016 and was actually eating a traditional dish from Palau, an island country in the Pacific Ocean. 13

The video was not filmed in Wuhan, nor even in China, and has no direct connection to the outbreak of the virus. Though the virus likely spread from bats, calling out Chinese eating habits as the cause of the outbreak is both misinformed and racist. Since the spread of the virus, Chinese restaurants and businesses across the U.S. have taken a financial hit. According to Bianca Ng, secretary of the Greater Flushing Chamber of Commerce, when she leaves work she sees many restaurants with more staff than customers. The lack of patronage is attributed to fear of the virus being spread through food. This is a devastating turn of events for Flushing, a predominantly Chinese area in Queens, NY known for its great restaurants. Despite tremendous setbacks, many business owners are hopeful for the future and believe that the crowds will soon return.

The coronavirus has largely been contained in Wuhan and China, but the rest of the world must follow suit in stemming the tide of discrimination and racism that has crashed ashore in the wake of the outbreak. Only then can Chinese communities be supported and proactive measures be taken to help the people of Wuhan in their hour of need.

12 https://www.health.com/condition/infectious-diseases/coronavirus-bat-soup 13 https://www.health.com/condition/infectious-diseases/coronavirus-bat-soup