Asian people have become susceptible to racism because of the coronavirus and that needs to stop. Much is unknown about how the new coronavirus spreads, but one thing is known for certain;. Where someone comes from does not make them more susceptible to catching the disease.
The new 2019 novel coronavirus is a respiratory virus that had not been previously identified before its first reporting in Hubei Province of China. The new strain of the virus widely differs from the previously identified strands because the new virus is causing much worse repercussions than just a mild illness that is no worse than the common cold.
The virus is causing concern among scientists because all of the previously discovered strains were transmitted through animal sources, but this new strain is being transmitted from person-to-person.
As the Coronavirus continues to take the world by storm with more than 30,000 people around the world being infected, scientists are hurrying to understand the disease and how many more people could be infected in the coming weeks or even months.
Originating in Wuhan China, the coronavirus spread across the globe faster than anyone could have ever expected. The coronavirus is extremely contagious and has caused high levels of concern across all races.
As experts work to find a solution for the virus, which was named a global public health emergency by the World Health Organization, anti-Asian racism jokes have continued unabated. These racist jokes have caused serious issues in the Asian community around the world.
Restaurants throughout the United States are reporting that they have been seeing a drastic decline in customers as a result of people sharing false accusations that their dishes could somehow be harboring the coronavirus. Comments like these are causing Asian-Americans to feel like perpetual foreigners in a country they were born and raised in which is absolutely absurd.
Asian Uber drivers have also reported that they have been having unusually high levels of cancelations because of all the assumptions being made about them. Many Americans think for some that Asian-Americans are more susceptible to the coronavirus than they are which is unfortunate and disappointing.
Many hard working people are facing hard times that could be easily avoided if instead of being so ignorant and inconsiderate, us Americans started educating ourselves on this global issue and worked to find a solution.
The coronavirus has created political repercussions as well. Despite little scientific evidence that restricting travel helps contain a virus like this, president Donald Trump banned any foreigners from entering the US who have traveled to China in the past 14 days.
There is a difference between being cautious about the disease and being blatantly racist towards innocent people. If a person decides to cancel a vacation to China where the disease is most densely populated, that is being cautious. When people post comments reading “you Asians are virus spreaders” or “Go back to China or we are all going to die”, that is not being cautious, that is being downright racist.
It is time us Americans get out of the “bubble” we are living in and open our eyes to the problems happening now before it’s too late.