"It's Sad" - First Chinatowns, Now LA's Koreatown, 'Asianphobia' Crashes Food Sales Amid Coronavirus Fears (03/02/2020)
『畏懼亞洲症』從唐人街邁向韓國城。餐食業當災。
武漢病毒向外橫掃﹐使一般人避免接近華人﹐恐怕受到病毒感染。現在這種『懼華症』已演變成『懼亞症』。凡是面貌看似亞洲人種都成為目標﹐而洛杉磯韓國城的餐廳生意慘淡。
Pandemic fears grip the world as cases
and deaths surge ex-China. Last month, we reported that Chinatowns around the
globe were struck with a demand shock as consumers ditched Chinese restaurants
for fear they could catch Covid-19. Eater LA says Los Angeles' Koreatown has
also seen plunging food sales as 'Asianphobia' rises with increasing virus
cases in the US.
General Tso's chicken has left a sour taste
among consumers' mouths as eating habits rapidly shift because of virus fear.
From Australia to New York City to Toronto to England to San Francisco,
Chinatowns around the world have had their food sales halved in the last month.
Some restaurants warned if low traffic continues into the next quarter, their
operations would have to be shuttered.
It's not just Sinophobia that has consumers
absolutely terrified that they could contract the virus if they are near a
Chinese person, it's now anyone who looks Asian, otherwise known as
'Asianphobia.'
Eater LA notes that on Friday a KBS
America's news story on Tuesday detailed how a Korean Airlines flight attendant
with symptoms of the virus recently visited LA's Koreatown turned out to be
entirely false. Though, in the wake of the story, food sales of restaurants in
the Central LA neighborhood centered near Eighth Street and Irolo Street, west
of MacArthur Park, plunged.
LA County Public Health Department stated in
a presser on Thursday that no information suggests the flight attendant visited
Koreatown.
Food sales at Han Bat Shul Lung Tang were
halved last week because of the rumor. Hangari Kalguksu, a popular restaurant
offering various noddle dishes, made a statement on Instagram that they hired a
professional cleaning company to sanitize the restaurant, dismissing the virus
rumor.
A trade group representing LA's Koreatown
restaurants said business conditions deteriorated last week on the rumor,
contributed to a 50% decline in food sales.
"In the Korean American community here, it [the rumor]
went like wildfire," Alex Won told AP News on Friday as he chowed down on
a bowl of beef brisket soup at Han Bat Shul Lung Tang. "It's sad."
Won said he's never seen Han Bat Shul Lung
Tang "this empty, "adding that "there are always people
here."
AP News notes that their interactions with
various shop owners in Koreatown said business died overnight because of the
rumor.
"It's a bad rumor, but people like bad
rumors," said Jay Choi, manager of Hanshin Pocha.
The streets of Koreatown last week and this
weekend had people wearing masks, out of fear the virus is stealthily spreading
on the West Coast.
State Assemblyman Kansen Chu, D-San Jose,
said Chinatowns had taken severe economic losses as a result of Sinophobia. Now
it appears, Asianphobia has claimed its next victim: LA's Koreatown.
