York tackles misinformation fuelling fears in Chinese communities

'We knew our business may be affected at first, but I didn’t expect (coronavirus) to impact us this much'

Yorkregion.com
February 4, 2020
Heidi Riedner

Two of York Region’s largest ethnic Chinese communities are feeling the effects of “misinformation” and “fear” in the wake of the first presumptive case of the Wuhan novel coronavirus in Canada reported in January.

In an effort to allay anxieties and combat rumour-fuelled panic, at a news conference at First Markham Place shopping centre on Jan. 30., the Region of York reassured that the risk of the contagious virus originating out of Wuhan, China, in mid December remained low.

“While information has been coming out from the region and public health, we needed to do it in different languages, particularly in Chinese (languages), to get the right information out, because there are a lot of rumours out there, there’s certainly perceptions out there, and I want to make sure people aren’t getting their information interpreted by someone else, and that that they are getting it in the language that they understand,” said Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti.

It was also important to Scarpitti to hold the news conference “out in the community” rather than at a government facility to indicate officials “aren’t hiding behind glass and walls,” especially after noting “the tide turned for the worse” after news of the first case was reported in Canada.

Concerns raised that Markham at 'heightened risk' of Wuhan coronavirus
Coinciding with Chinese New Year, Scarpitti said that’s when the emails started, stating that some events were being cancelled and some businesses started seeing a decline in patronage.

The impact to businesses in the ethnic Chinese community -- especially food services and particularly in Markham and Richmond Hill -- was felt to varying degrees, according to Ben Leung, vice-president of the Markham, Richmond Hill and Vaughan Chinese Business Association.