新冠病毒引過(guò)度恐慌，導(dǎo)致亞裔美國(guó)人生意慘淡

Fears of New Coronavirus Hurting Asian American Businesses

由于擔(dān)憂冠狀病毒 亞裔美國(guó)人生意慘淡

Asian American businesses are seeing a drop in customers because of fears over the new coronavirus outbreak in China.

由于擔(dān)心在中國(guó)爆發(fā)的新型冠狀病毒，亞裔美國(guó)人企業(yè)的客戶量有所下降。

In many places, city officials are trying to stop the financial harm with efforts like information campaigns and personal visits to stores and restaurants. They aim to bring attention to the fact that there have been few confirmed cases of the disease in the United States. They say there is no reason to avoid Asian American businesses.

在很多地方，市政府官員正試圖通過(guò)諸如信息宣傳活動(dòng)、親臨商店和飯店等措施來(lái)阻止經(jīng)濟(jì)損失。他們旨在讓人們關(guān)注到這樣一個(gè)事實(shí)，那就是在美國(guó)幾乎沒有確診病例。他們稱沒有理由要避開亞裔美國(guó)人的企業(yè)。

The newly opened Asian District in Mesa, Arizona, was organizing a night market for the end of February. Then, news of a case of the illness known as COVID-19 was confirmed at nearby Arizona State University.

亞利桑那州梅薩市新開業(yè)的亞洲區(qū)將于2月底組織一個(gè)夜市。隨后，附近的亞利桑那州立大學(xué)傳出確診一例新型冠狀病毒患者的新聞。

Comments on social media and phone calls started almost immediately, said Vicente Reid. He is chief of the Arizona Asian Chamber of Commerce.

韋森特·里德表示，社交媒體上幾乎立刻就有了評(píng)論，他的電話也幾乎立刻開始響了起來(lái)。他是亞利桑那州亞洲商會(huì)的負(fù)責(zé)人。

Reid said, "I probably should stop picking up my phone altogether. "

里德表示：“我或許應(yīng)該完全不接電話。”

The new coronavirus has sickened tens of thousands of people, mostly in China. Fifteen people in the U.S. have been confirmed to have the virus. All but two had recently traveled to China.

新型冠狀病毒已經(jīng)使得數(shù)萬(wàn)人患病，其中大多數(shù)患者在中國(guó)。美國(guó)已經(jīng)有15人確診。除了兩人以外的其他所有人近期都去過(guò)中國(guó)。

Fewer people at restaurants

飯店生意慘淡

Vegetarian Dim Sum House has been a popular place to eat in Manhattan s Chinatown for 23 years. But recently, owner Frankie Chu said he will not be able to pay his rent this month.

“素食點(diǎn)心屋”23年來(lái)一直是曼哈頓唐人街的熱門就餐地。但是最近，餐廳老板弗蘭克·朱表示，他這個(gè)月要付不起房租了。

Chu said restaurant sales have dropped 70 percent over the last two weeks. On a recent weekday, just three couples stopped in for lunch. Normally, Chu said he gets up to 30 people for lunch. At dinnertime, his narrow restaurant usually gets about 70 customers. These days, he has about four.

朱表示，飯店生意過(guò)去兩周下降了70%。最近的一個(gè)工作日，只有3對(duì)夫妻進(jìn)來(lái)吃午餐。朱表示，通常情況下，有多達(dá)30人進(jìn)店吃午餐。在晚餐時(shí)間，他狹窄的餐廳里通常會(huì)吸引約70名顧客，而這些天(晚餐時(shí)間)僅約4個(gè)顧客。

I don t know how long I can stay here, Chu said. "After 9/11, it wasn t this bad."

朱表示：“我不知道我能維持多久。生意在911之后就從來(lái)沒有這么慘淡過(guò)。”

The situation has concerned New York City officials and business leaders. They have launched a campaign to bring people back to hard-hit communities in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn.

這種狀況已經(jīng)引起了紐約市官員和商業(yè)領(lǐng)袖的關(guān)注。他們發(fā)起了一項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)，讓人們回到曼哈頓、皇后區(qū)和布魯克林疫情較重的社區(qū)。

Chinatown is bleeding, said Wellington Chen. He is executive chairman of the Chinatown Partnership, a local business and community group. "This thing is thousands of miles away. This fear is really out of proportion."

惠林頓·陳表示：“唐人街正在遭受沖擊。”他是華埠共同發(fā)展機(jī)構(gòu)( Chinatown Partnership)的執(zhí)行主席，華埠共同發(fā)展機(jī)構(gòu)是一個(gè)當(dāng)?shù)氐纳虡I(yè)和社區(qū)團(tuán)體。他表示：“疫情發(fā)生在千里之外。這種擔(dān)憂完全是小題大做。”

New York City is home to more than 500,000 Chinese Americans, the biggest population of any U.S. city. Some New Yorkers whose families are from China say they feel now like foreigners because of a disease spreading in another country.

紐約市擁有超過(guò)50萬(wàn)華裔美國(guó)人，是美國(guó)華裔人口最多的城市。一些家庭來(lái)自中國(guó)的紐約人表示，只因一種在其它國(guó)家傳播的疾病，他們現(xiàn)在感覺像是老外。

It's a little annoying to be honest, said Christina Seid, owner of the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. Her father started the business 40 years ago.

唐人街冰淇淋廠老板克里斯蒂娜·塞德表示：“說(shuō)實(shí)話這有點(diǎn)煩人。”她的父親在40年前創(chuàng)辦了這家企業(yè)。

Her great-grandparents immigrated to New York from China. She said business has been slower than usual but added that the winter months are not busy for ice cream stores. She said she feels hopeful that things will soon return to normal.

她的曾祖父從中國(guó)移民到紐約。她表示，生意比平時(shí)冷清，但又表示道，冰激凌店冬天本來(lái)生意就不好。她說(shuō)希望一切會(huì)很快恢復(fù)正常。

There have been no confirmed cases of the virus in New York City. Officials and politicians are trying to prove to locals that there is no reason to avoid any neighborhood. Many city leaders have been eating at Chinese restaurants and publishing pictures of themselves doing so, using the hashtag #SupportChinatown.

紐約市沒有確診病例。官員和政客們正試圖向當(dāng)?shù)厝俗C明，沒有理由要避開任何鄰居。很多城市領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人一直在中餐廳就餐，并使用“支持唐人街”的標(biāo)簽發(fā)布他們就餐時(shí)的照片。

In Boston, Massachusetts, Mayor Marty Walsh has launched a similar social media campaign. He has asked people to share pictures of themselves supporting small businesses in that city's Chinatown with the hashtag #LoveBostonChinatown.

在馬薩諸塞州的波士頓市，市長(zhǎng)馬蒂·沃爾什發(fā)起了類似的社交運(yùn)動(dòng)。他請(qǐng)求人們使用“熱愛波士頓唐人街”的標(biāo)簽分享自己支持該市唐人街小企業(yè)的照片。

In the San Francisco Bay Area, the situation is serious enough that Sunny Wong s family is considering temporarily closing one of the four restaurants they own in Oakland Chinatown. Even some of his friends and longtime customers have told him about false stories of people getting sick at one of his restaurants.

在舊金山灣區(qū)，情況嚴(yán)重到讓沙利·黃的家人開始考慮暫時(shí)關(guān)閉他們?cè)趭W克蘭唐人街4家餐廳中的一家。甚至他的一些朋友和老顧客還告訴他關(guān)于有人在他的一家餐廳被感染病情的謠言。

They hear stories and rumors and they just don t really look for the facts in a situation, Wong said.

黃表示：“他們聽著故事和謠言，不會(huì)去探究真相。”

Nom Wah Tea Parlor is the oldest restaurant in Manhattan s Chinatown. Manager Vincent Tang said the restaurant had a 40-percent drop in business over the past three weeks. During a recent weekday, nearly half the tables were empty.

南華茶餐廳是曼哈頓唐人街最古老的餐廳。餐廳經(jīng)理韋森特·唐表示，過(guò)去三周這家餐廳的營(yíng)業(yè)額下降了40%。在最近的一個(gè)工作日，近一半的桌子都空著。

Some customers at Nom Wah said they were surprised that others were staying away.

南華茶餐廳的一些顧客表示，他們驚訝于其他顧客都不來(lái)了。

It didn t cross my mind at all, said customer Kate Masterson. "It s not happening here," she said of the outbreak.

顧客凱特·馬斯特森表示：“我完全沒想到。”談到疫情時(shí)她表示：“這里又沒發(fā)生疫情。”

I m Ashley Thompson.

阿什利·湯普森為你報(bào)道。