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The world was shocked by the corona virus in Wuhan, China. Media reports to date (8/02) at least 638 people have died, 31,480 people have been infected and 36 countries have confirmed the disease. These numbers continue to grow and increasingly worrying. WHO itself has previously announced an emergency status related to the deadly plague.
Many 34 countries in the world helped to limit flights to China due to the Corona virus. Reporting from kompas.com, according to Cirium data which provides data and research on the travel industry noted that nearly 10,000 flights were canceled due to the corona virus since January 31, 2020. A number of countries have also begun to close their border areas to arrivals from China, this is done in anticipation of the spread of the corona virus even wider.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that restrictions related to the concern of a number of countries about the spread of the corona virus were considered excessive and unusual measures. Such action, according to him, will not stop the spread of the corona virus.
As a result of the corona virus fear, Chinese citizens and tourists in several countries have suffered of racism. Quoted from BBC Rome, Veronica Li, an Italian citizen of Chinese descent, was forced to lay off three workers at his restaurant due to lack of visitors.
“Usually 50 or 60 people come here for dinner,” Veronica said. “But last Saturday there were only two people. I have to lay off three employees. If it continues like this, I have to close this restaurant next month, “he added.
The act of racism is thought to have been triggered by the massive spread of hoax in the media. Panic spreads much faster than the virus itself. The panic is detrimental to a number of workers from China in several countries. They were forced to close shops, accept various sadistic curses and harassment from the citizens they inhabit.
A bar next to the Trevi fountain in Rome shows an announcement sign containing a ban on customers from the Chinese people.
In France, citizens of Chinese descent were reportedly angry when the local newspaper Le Courier Picard posted headlines “Alerte jaune” (Yellow Alert) and “Le péril jaune?” (Yellow Danger?), With photos of Chinese women wearing protective masks. Residents of Chinese descent in France then enlivened the hashtag #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus (I am not a virus) on social media as a form of resistance to racism that attacks them.
In York, a suburb of Toronto, Canada (27/01), an online petition was signed by a number of parents who asked students who had just returned from China in the last 17 days to be banned from school. Luckily, the school refused and condemned the petition because of fear that the students would be targeted at the school due to their ethnicity.
Eventually racism and xenophobia became an equally deadly plague, no less deadly than Corona. The difference, if the corona attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia to cause death, racism and xenophobia attack the critical power and humanism of the wider community.
Racism and Xenophobia make victims lose their human rights. And, unfortunately, those two things are starting to plague our society.
Translated from the original article : https://islami.co/rasisme-dan-xenopobhia-wabah-berbahaya-setelah-virus-corona/, By : Vinanda Febriani on 11 February 2020.
