Don’t let your fear go viral Fear and misinformation are proving to be as contagious as the novel coronavirus. China is the country of origin for the novel coronavirus, and its people have experienced a newfound level of racism ( 种族歧视 ) during this epidemic. In times of fear, it’s not uncommon for people to think illogically. Singling someone out who doesn’t look like you and falsely believing they are more susceptible ( 易受影响的 ) to the virus is more comforting than facing the facts: The virus doesn’t discriminate when infecting people.? “This new virus has triggered ( 引起 ) something that is always latently ( 潜伏地 ) there, under the surface, which is this fear of the other and the idea that bad things come from elsewhere,” Roger Keil, a professor in the environmental studies department at York University, said to The Verge.? There is also a history of xenophobia – a fear or dislike of foreigners – in the West, in relation to people from China. The reaction today is similar to the SARS outbreak, which began in Guangdong province in 2002. However, the history of discrimination goes even further back than that: China was once referred to as “the sick man of Asia” in the 19th century. Of course, outbreaks occur in other countries as well: H1N1 first emerged ( 出现 ) in North America and mad cow disease mostly affected the UK – but these diseases didn’t cause the same discrimination as those from China. “This is a time when we need to be pulling together as a multicultural, inclusive ( 包容性的 ) and diverse community to support each other and people affected by the outbreak, and not use an event like this to promote division and xenophobia,” Simon Judkins, the immediate past president of the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine, said to the Guardian. Rather than pointing fingers to people who look a certain way, some prominent ( 著名的 ) leaders and organizations are using their heads and donating money toward relief efforts. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, for example, have pledged ( 许诺 ) $100 million (nearly 700 million yuan) to help find a vaccine ( 疫苗 ) for the virus. China now has over 80 running or pending ( 即将发生的 ) clinical trials on potential treatments for the virus, according to Nature. In our globalized world, we are all in this together.