Social reaction toward the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19)

With the number of people infected by the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19), which is rapidly increasing worldwide,[1] public anxieties and worries are elevated in many regions. As the COVID-19 outbreak is ongoing, a wave of fear and worry in the society has arisen. Following this wave of fear and worry, several communities seem to develop a new by-product of discrimination, that is, mutual discrimination within the Asian/Chinese societies. For example, people who reside in Taiwan are afraid of interaction with those living in Hong Kong; people in Hong Kong avoid interaction with China mainlanders; and people from southeastern or southern region of Asia are afraid of contacts with Chinese ethnic people. More recently, people in Hong Kong and Taiwan feel scared when interacting with Koreans and Japanese due to their recent community outbreak.