- Stores have run out of stock of face masks.
- Travelers from the epicenter are beginning to be unwelcomed.
- Countries have flown their own residents back home for mandatory quarantines.
Meanwhile, there have also been stories emerging of discrimination in Western Countries such as:
- Australia https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/31/world/australia/coronavirus-racism-chinese.html,
- Canada https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-health-canada-discrimination/coronavirus-stokes-asian-discrimination-fears-in-canadas-biggest-city-idUKKBN1ZS092
- and France http://english.alarabiya.net/en/media/digital/2020/01/30/Chinese-people-respond-to-coronavirus-discrimination-We-are-not-a-virus-.html.
- The US in not immune either: https://www.npr.org/2020/03/02/811363404/when-xenophobia-spreads-like-a-virus.
From Dr. Sachi Inoue...
- “As coronavirus spreads, so does concern over xenophobia
‘More panic, more temptation to blame the outsider ... the other,’ a Columbia professor of sociomedical sciences said.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1125441 - “Rapper 50 Cent Wants Donald Trump to Send Chinese People ‘Back to China’ Over Coronavirus”
https://nextshark.com/50-cent-trump-china-coronavirus/
From Dr. Grace Kim...
Treating Yellow Peril: Resources to Address Political Anxieties Over China’s Coronavirus...compiled by Asian American Studies scholars, and includes information on history and case examples from other epidemics (such as SARS).
Treating Yellow Peril: Resources to Address Political Anxieties Over China’s Coronavirus...compiled by Asian American Studies scholars, and includes information on history and case examples from other epidemics (such as SARS).
A "very quick google search...to highlight our history of recent infectious diseases and our societal
response1" was summarized by Dr. Sherry Wang who provided links to articles
that can easily be found online. She was also speaking on KQED about personal experiences related to this matter: https://www.kqed.org/news/11800025/to-be-asian-with-a-face-mask-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak.
· SARS outbreak (2002-2003) triggered
China-blaming attitudes and perceptions that were reflected in national
newspapers and expanded to stigma against Asians, worldwide1.
· Bird Flu (2003-2007) elicited anti-Asian
messages as well as prejudiced attitudes and discrimination1.
· Swine flu (2009) fueled anti-immigrant
racism3 especially toward Mexican American immigrants4.
· MERS (2012-present), despite not being
an urgent, worldwide threat, the name and geographical location of the disease
generated fear of it being a “Muslim illness”5.
· Ebola (2013-2016) – The racial profiling
and overt racism against Black people has been described as Ebola racism,
facilitating discrimination, racial profiling, and anti-foreigner sentiments
based on skin color6-9.
· Zika (2015-2016) – Despite its
recognition as a global health emergency, Latin American and Caribbean women,
especially poor women, were given differential treatment that rendered them
“unprotected” and “badly served” and revealed the “hideously racist hypocrisy”10.
The American Psychological Association has a few tips on how to manage viewing coverage of the virus: https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/bird-flu.
