Understanding needed
A recent video on Twitter showed a man attacking an Asian woman wearing a mask at a subway station in Manhattan, New York, while cursing her and shouting, "Don't touch me!" The man called her "diseased," according to Tony He, a New York resident who posted the video.
Asians often wear facemasks for self-protection from germs, allergies and dust. Since the viral outbreak, many Chinese living abroad have been wearing surgical facemasks in public areas, but few people foresaw that this could heighten fear and generate dislike among the U.S. public.
Koo said his office has received complaints from parents whose children are bullied when they wear facemasks at school, adding that while many people might only wear masks when they are sick, they should not stigmatize Asians for doing so.
"I hope Americans will understand that when Asians wear facemasks, it does not mean they are sick. But it takes time and education to change cultural perceptions," he said.
Koo's deputy chief of staff Scott Sieber, who has years of experience in Asian communities, said he actually appreciates Chinese wearing facemasks.
He said this indicated that people were taking precautions and looking after those around them, adding, "I understand this, as I am familiar with the culture."
The CDC and doctors in general believe there is no need to wear a mask in the U.S., but are urging people to wash their hands often and avoid going out in public when they become sick.
But Locke, who used to be governor of Washington state and is a former U.S. secretary of commerce, said the CDC is only making a recommendation, not a requirement or a law.
"Americans in general, and the Chinese community in particular, are free to do as they wish, without any repercussions," he added.
Charlie Woo, co-founder and CEO of toy manufacturing company Megatoys in Los Angeles, called on Asian Americans to continue explaining that they are not sick just because they are wearing a facemask.
"If any Asian feels more comfortable wearing a facemask, he or she has every right to do so," said Woo, who is also vice-chair of the Committee of 100, a group comprising leading Chinese Americans striving to ensure full inclusion in the country and to advance U.S.-China relations.
"The United States has had racial issues since the beginning. Hopefully, we make progress one day at a time," he said.
Chinatowns still safe
Angela Wang, the owner of a decade-old hair salon in Flushing, said one-third of her regular customers used to be non-Chinese, but two days after her employees started wearing facemasks, these clients all stopped returning. There has also been a significant drop in the number of her Chinese customers.
"All of us have taken off the masks, but our business has declined by 90 percent in the past week. If customers are not coming back and rents are not going down, we might have to shut down within two months," said Wang, who arrived in the U.S. 18 years ago from Zhejiang province.
Her salon is just one of many businesses struggling financially in Flushing. A sales manager of a spacious dim sum restaurant believed the outbreak could deal the neighborhood its heaviest blow for many years.
Amid fears of business slowing down in Chinatowns and Asian communities such as Flushing, city officials have told people not to change their day-to-day activities.
Mark Treyger, a New York City Council member, tweeted: "Stick to the facts about coronavirus by getting your info from trained medical professionals and reliable sources. Basic hygiene rules apply. Call out hate when you see it, and continue to shop, dine and go about your normal everyday routine."
New York City Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot took the initiative to frequent Chinese restaurants, attend celebrations in Chinatown and share all her experiences on Twitter. "I've been disheartened by reports of bias and discrimination against the Asian community recently. Let me be clear - our public health response is about a virus, not a group of people," she tweeted, along with a picture of her and two others dining at a Chinese restaurant.
During Spring Festival she tweeted, "Today, our city is celebrating the Lunar New Year parade in Chinatown, a beautiful cultural tradition with a rich history in the city. I want to remind everyone to enjoy the parade and not change any plans due to misinformation spreading about coronavirus."
Flu a bigger threat
The CDC and the Chinese government have joined hands for the past 30 years to address public health priorities affecting the two countries and the world, according to Barbara Marston, head of the international coronavirus task force at the CDC's Center for Global Health..
She added that the CDC is preparing as if the outbreak was the next pandemic.
While the epidemic continues to dominate headlines, officials and doctors have reminded the U.S. public that influenza poses a bigger threat.
Koo said that in New York, where there have been no confirmed cases of novel coronavirus pneumonia, there is a much higher chance of becoming sick from influenza.
Sexton, from Emory University School of Medicine, said: "Getting a flu vaccine is very helpful. If people are sick with respiratory symptoms, they should put on a mask in a healthcare waiting room to avoid infecting others."
The CDC estimates that, so far this season, flu has caused at least 22 million cases of illness, 210,000 hospitalizations and 12,000 deaths.
In a recent interview with The Boston Globe, Paul Watanabe, director of the Institute for Asian American Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston, said, "Anti-Chinese racism centered around the coronavirus outbreak isn't just ugly, it's illogical.
"The fact of the matter is we are facing a health crisis right now in the United States, and it's a domestic one and it's the flu."
