"There are serious concerns of a global pandemic, but the coronavirus (now called COVID-19 by the World Health Organization) has also reawakened centuries-old prejudices against Chinese people," John Pompret wrote recently in an opinion for the Washington Post.  He went on to cite several historical examples of how anti-Chinese racism in the U.S. always hinged on the belief that Asians harbor disease, dating back to the 19th century.

The title of a Wall Street Journal opinion on February 3 included a term "Sick Man of Asia" which is a century-old derogatory reference to persons of Chinese origin.  It sparked strong reactions from the Chinese American community nationwide.   

"Something's not right here folks," Mario Cavolo, an American living in China, wrote in his LinkedIn blog as he looked at the disparate treatment and reaction to the 2009 H1N1 virus that started in the U.S. compared to the 2020 coronavirus in China.  "This vicious, political, xenophobic racist attacks and smearing of all things China needs to stop," Cavolo concluded.

Virus knows no borders.  It is not an excuse for division, prejudice, fearmongering, or xenophobia here or elsewhere in the world.  The risk of COVID-19 should obviously not be under-estimated.  However, hate messages, baseless rumors, prejudice, conspiracy theories, uncontrolled emotions, panic and uninformed behavior cause far more damage than the coronavirus itself.

"Whether in a couple of weeks or months later, this nasty flu type Corona virus will begin declining and the joy of Spring will arrive," Cavolo optimistically observed.