WASHINGTON — Question:
Are you at risk of getting coronavirus by eating Chinese food?
Answer:
No. The rumor is completely false, and spreads a stigma against Asian-Americans.
Sources:
Amesh Adalja, Infectious Disease Physician and Adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Process:
There is a lot of fear about the coronavirus. As a result, many myths have surfaced on social media.
One claim that has been spread online is that eating Chinese food may put you at risk of the coronavirus.
"I haven’t eaten Chinese Food since Coronavirus hit," wrote one person on Twitter.
To find out if this claim was true, The Verify team reached out to Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician and professor at the Johns Hopkins University. He said the claim is completely false.
"The virus spreads through the respiratory route," he said. "And droplets that are in coughs and sneezes."
He said there is absolutely no evidence that this virus is a "food-borne-illness."
"People's reaction to this virus has been outweighing the damage of the virus... especially in the United States," he said.
The Food and Drug Administration agreed.
"There is no evidence of food or food packaging being associated with the transmission," the administration wrote in a statement.
These online rumors are not harmless. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that people of Chinese and Asian descent are "facing stigma in their communities” due to the virus, including people avoiding their businesses or restaurants."
People really need to focus on the way of transmission," said Adalja. "Rather than stigmatizing Chinese restaurants."