Canada's chief public health officer condemns racist acts linked to coronavirus outbreak

Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam is calling out acts of racism and discrimination related to the coronavirusoutbreak.

On Twitter, Tam said she's troubled bythe growing number of reports of racistacts and comments on social media directed at people of Chinese and Asian descent, calling them "unacceptable and very hurtful."

"These actions create a divide ofus versus them," she tweeted. "Canada is a country built on the deep-rooted values of respect, diversity and inclusion."

China's National Health Commission said the country's total number of deaths from the coronavirus had climbed to 170 by late Wednesday, as the number of those infected rose to 7,711.

Canada has confirmed three cases of the virus here, all ofwhich originated in Wuhan, China.

Chinese Canadianshave been reporting racist incidentsas fear-fuelled misinformation aboutthe new coronavirus spreads.

Frank Ye,a student at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto, has been monitoring online reaction to the coronavirus. He said he has seenposts calling Chinese people "dirty" or "disease-ridden."

Lessons from SARS

"The spread of this virus, just like the spread of SARS, has been used to bring back a lot of anti-Chinese, anti-Asian tropes and racist stereotypes that really date back throughout centuries in Canada's history," Ye toldThe Current'sMatt Galloway this week.

In her Twitter thread, Tam called on Canadians to learn from the experience of theSARS outbreak which also saw South East Asians subjected to racist behaviourand discrimination.

Toronto Mayor John Tory also hasdenounced the act of "shunning" Chinese Canadiansor avoiding their businesses, calling it immoral and harmful.

"This type of thinking is wrong. It is entirely inconsistent with the advice of our health care professionals," he said.