CIVIC LEADERS CUT FEARS WITH LUNCH IN CHINATOWN.
Walsh: Coronavirus fears unwarranted, biz hurting
Don’t be afraid to satisfy your dumpling craving in Chinatown, Mayor Martin Walsh said amid a downturn in the neighborhood’s business, insisting that you won’t receive an unwanted helping of coronavirus.
“You’re not going to catch the coronavirus,” Walsh told reporters from inside a restaurant in Chinatown during a walking tour of the neighborhood that’s seen a dip in business in the weeks since the disease began to make headlines.
“There’s not as much foot traffic here, there’s not as much people going to the stores — it’s a major concern,” Walsh continued.
Walsh said the owner of Jade Kitchen in Chinatown, where Walsh chowed down on some chicken and broccoli during his Tuesday walk around the neighborhood, told him business is down about 50%.
“You don’t see that drop in business. I haven’t seen it in my political life, honestly,” Walsh said. “Even the blizzard of ’15 — people saw a drop in business, but it didn’t seem to be this drastic.”
The virus, which emerged in central China in December, has killed at least 2,004 people in mainland China and five others elsewhere. The World Health Organization has named the illness COVID-19.
Walsh also said, “To the people who have been out there on social media being racist to the Chinatown community and to Chinese people in general — that’s got to stop. It’s just not right. Enough of that — enough of that hate-mongering.”
A renowned epidemiologist, Zhong Nanshan, said he expected the outbreak to peak by mid- to late-February, later than initially estimated, according to Southern Metropolis Daily.
Zhong said he expected the situation to be “stable” by the end of April.
The WHO had said Monday the number of new coronavirus infections in China appeared to be declining, though it was too early to tell if the reported decline would continue.
A new study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put the overall death rate from the virus at 2.3%, with the age group most at risk being elderly people. The death rate was 14.8% for people over 80, while only 0.2% for those aged 10 to 39.
Data analysis of a subgroup of about 20,000 people showed that patients without any prior medical conditions had a 0.9% fatality rate.
The majority of the cases — 80.9% — showed mild symptoms, while 13.8% of the cases were severe and 4.7% were critical, according to the study.