Reaction in lift is ‘racist’

A lawyer says a woman holding her breath while in the lift with him is an example of the racism Asian people are experiencing amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Alex Lee said he and his mother Catherine were leaving Auckland’s North Shore Hospital on Wednesday when the doors to the lift they were in opened.

A couple waiting for the lift looked inside but were hesitant to come in, Lee said.

‘‘The door kind of closed, and my mother pressed the button to hold the door, looked at them and said: Are you going up? Would you like to come in?

‘‘They kind of looked and they hesitated and my mother, just being my mother, opened the door again and said: Would you like to come in?’’

Lee said the couple eventually walked in. But the woman appeared ‘‘very uncomfortable’’ and held her breath until he and his mother got out. He believed their reaction stemmed from being ill-informed about coronavirus.

Lee said: ‘‘At the end of the day, if she [the woman in the lift] was worried about any issue with regards to the coronavirus – anyone and everyone in this city or anywhere in the world could be potentially exposed to it. It is not just relatable to Chinese people and even if it was, there is nothing that says we are from Wuhan.’’

His family had been in New Zealand for 30 years. ‘‘It certainly felt like, what I consider, an opportunity for people to be a wee bit racist.’’

Police are investigating a racist email reportedly sent to a parent saying Asian people were spreading viruses and their children should stay home from school.

Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon said the email was ‘‘ignorant and arrogant’’. He was aware of other anecdotal reports of xenophobic comments related to the outbreak but said no formal complaints had been made to the Human Rights Commission.