Comments come as B.C.’s city with highest number of Chinese reports lowest infection rates on Lower Mainland
The Chinese community’s early efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 in B.C. appear to have paid off, despite some of its members being stigmatized because of the virus, say infectious disease doctors.
Data recently released by the province shows Richmond, B.C., the city with the highest concentration of Chinese residents in the province, as having the lowest percentage of cases on the Lower Mainland, where the bulk of B.C.’s cases reside.
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UBC infectious diseases specialist, Dr. Peter Phillips said the “evidence is pretty clear” that the community “showed great leadership.” Many members of the community adopted measures such as self-isolation and face masks before they were mandated.
Phillips points to other regions around the world with large Chinese communities as examples of similar success.
In Prato, which is home to Italy’s largest Chinese population, at 25 per cent, health officials credit the community for bringing down the town’s infection rate to half the Italian average after many Chinese residents voluntarily isolated themselves weeks before authorities mandated it.
As of the end of March, a top state health official for the area said no Chinese resident there had contracted the virus.