UCA Calls for Chinese Americans to be involved in the relief effort towards the New Coronavirus outbreak and disease prevention in the U.S.
Given the urgent situation of the Novel Coronavirus outbreak in China, United Chinese Americans (UCA) is watching it closely and working with Chinese organizations across the country in coordinating our relief and prevention efforts.
At UCA, we understand this is a particularly difficult time for Chinese families here and back in China, many of them are severely impacted by this outbreak, and many are deeply concerned of what has and would happen next. At this critical moment, our hearts are with millions of families in China, especially those who are fighting the virus on the frontline day in and day out.
Many Chinese communities and organizations are involved in the relief effort here in the U.S., sending medical supplies back home or raising fund for it. These efforts bring a sense of solidarity and hope from the Chinese diaspora to the Chinese people in affected regions.
We ask members of the Chinese communities in the U.S. to exert every precaution you can in stopping the spread of the virus, and follow the guidelines from the CDC, local and state public health departments. Effective and responsible communication and working together with other members of the American authorities concerned will be instrumental in approaching this virus and ultimately defeating it.
At the same time, we also have to be vigilant to fight any old racial stereotype, media bias, and mis- and disinformation that could spread faster than the virus itself. Please do due diligence in keeping social media clean, remain calm and objective, in dealing with information.
Panic and other overreactions will not alleviate the problem but instead create more difficulties, for example, many Chinese American small businesses and companies are already suffering from the aftermath of the outbreak. Not only do we have to be responsively involved in the relief effort in China, we also have to be mindful of the social impact of what we do or not do toward our own communities here in this difficult time.
With rising fear, ignorance, and discrimination against Chinese and Chinese Americans, we have to stand up together, for ourselves. UCA is ready to help Chinese American communities, as we have always done in the past, to stand up for our rights and dignity.
We need to be active and vigilant citizens in local communities and civically engaged in communicating with governmental agencies and elected officials. It is a humanity crisis and opportunity of global effort and scientific collaboration. If you can contribute, either in the relief effort, or any areas of your talent and interest, please contact us immediately and join the UCA community of dedicated volunteers and team members.
In the end, at this special time of the passing of the Lunar New Year, we trust that our persistence, patience, and hard work will take us to the end and lead us to a victory over the virus. UCA wishes everyone and every family a safe and healthy year ahead, and let’s try our best to win this battle together.