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Feature Medicine and the Media

Covid-19: are we getting the communications right?

BMJ 2020; 368 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m919 (Published 06 March 2020) Cite this as: BMJ 2020;368:m919

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Rapid Response:

Re: Covid-19: are we getting the communications right?

Dear Editor,

With increasing numbers of coronavirus diagnosed each day, this country and the world is experiencing mounting fear as COVID-19 threatens a pandemic. Each day we see the numbers of cases in the UK rising, and with antibacterial hand gel sold out in stores, people wearing masks on public transport and stockpiling food, the country seems to be teetering on the edge of hysteria. As told by history we see time and time again how fear and panic leads to prejudice and discrimination: Jewish persecution during the Black Death in the 1300s, HIV and LGBTQ communities in the '80s, and more recently in 2014 the Ebola outbreak being framed as an ‘African disease’. This time is no exception, and the social media frenzy plus the lack of government and public health organisation communications seems to be doing little to allay these fears and prevent these prejudices from running wild.

As panic mounts, more and more stories of Asian people targeted with racist abuse are emerging. Fear mongering and racial stereotyping is rampant on social media, and this is spilling onto our streets. You hear about casual racism daily: East-Asian appearing colleagues pointedly asked by patients whether they are Chinese; people moving seats away from an Asian man on the bus; reduced business at Chinese restaurants. The list goes on. To some these things may be seemingly harmless and could easily be overlooked. However racial stereotyping of any kind is harmful and upsetting to those involved. Last week a Singaporean student, Jonathan Mok, was assaulted on Oxford Street, told by the attackers that ‘I don't want your coronavirus in my country’.[1] He is not the only case like this, examples of xenophobic attacks just like this one have been happening worldwide. In the US, the New York Times published an article about the first person diagnosed with coronavirus in Manhattan. The woman had contracted the virus in Iran, and yet the photograph at the top of the article was of Manhattan’s Chinatown, subtly propagating the anti-Chinese sentiment surrounding the virus.[2]

Worryingly, very few governments or public health organisations seem to be doing much to combat this. Shockingly, the University of California, Berkeley published an Instagram post defending racism around coronavirus, stating “Please recognize that experiencing any of these can be normal reactions and that over the next few days or weeks you may experience periods of… Xenophobia: fears about interacting with those who might be from Asia and guilt about these feelings”.[3] It has been up to individuals, mostly via social media to fight these racist movements themselves. For example in France the hashtag #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus (I am not a virus) is being used.[4] Backlash against UC Berkley caused them to delete the post and publish a public apology for its content, citing it as a ‘misunderstanding’.[3] With such upsetting content their apology barely seems to make up for normalising such a xenophobic narrative.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock recently told the country that is seemed ‘more likely’ that there would be widespread transmission of the virus, and advised the public to act on official medical advice.[5] But a pandemic disease doesn’t solely pose a health risk to the population - there are significant social and cultural consequences. By neglecting to address the wave of xenophobia emerging the government is excusing this behaviour and failing our communities, specifically our Asian populations.

What many wish did not need to be said, that COVID-19 affects all people, regardless of race, evidently does need to be. As health professionals we have a duty to speak up and use our position to tackle these racist stereotypes with the platforms we have in hospitals and in the community. But the people with most voice, our government and public health organisations, need to address the realities of the situation: that such extreme fear potentiates prejudice. Otherwise, by staying silent they will continue to enable xenophobic narrative, specifically anti-Asian and anti-Chinese sentiment, and racist attacks to damage our society.

Competing interests: No competing interests

Melanie J Coates
Doctor
London

References
1. Sullivan R. ‘I don’t want your coronavirus in my country’: Young Singaporean man beaten up in racist attack in London [Internet]. Independent. 2020 [cited 2020 Mar 11]. Available from:https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/racist-attack-coronavirus-ne...
2. Griffin A. New York Times and New York Post Use Images of Flushing for Manhattan Coronavirus Case [Internet]. Flushing Post. 2020 [cited 2020 Mar 11]. Available from: https://flushingpost.com/new-york-times-and-new-york-post-use-images-of-...
3. Chiu A. ‘Stop normalizing racism’: Amid backlash, UC-Berkeley apologizes for listing xenophobia under ‘common reactions’ to coronavirus [Internet]. Washington Post. 2020 [cited 2020 Mar 11]. Available from:https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/01/31/berkeley-coronavirus-xe...
4. Creedon J. “I am not a virus” [Internet]. France 24. 2020 [cited 2020 Mar 3]. Available from:https://www.france24.com/en/20200128-i-am-not-a-virus
5. Department of Health and Social Care, The Rt Hon Matt Hancock MP. Coronavirus action plan: Health Secretary’s statement to Parliament [Internet]. Gov.uk. 2020 [cited 2020 Mar 6]. Available from:https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/coronavirus-action-plan-health-se...

Competing interests: No competing interests

10 March 2020
Melanie J Coates
Doctor
London