Fight the virus, not Wuhan people

At a time when the whole country is mobilized to fight the novel coronavirus and the pneumonia it has caused, some unwanted situations have occurred.

On social networks, some unreasonable voices have targeted Wuhan, where the disease was first found, as "evil" and badmouthed people from the city and even Hubei province as a whole.

In more than one city there were reports about people at hotels refusing to accept guests from Hubei. Some travelers from the province complained that they had nowhere to stay, while certain hospitals didn't accept them when they had other diseases, obviously fearing that they might carry the coronavirus.

Facing the threat of a previously unknown virus, it is understandable for people to take some self-protection measures. However, neither badmouthing Hubei nor refusing travelers from the province is a good measure. That's only regional discrimination caused by panic. And that panic helps little to prevent the spread of the virus.

Where can the Hubei travelers stay in a city far away from home? They could have stayed in a hotel room as everyone else is doing and help to curb the spread of the coronavirus, but when all hotels refuse them, they might have no other choice than the long chairs of shopping malls or buses. If any of them really carried the coronavirus as people feared, that would only help the virus infect more people.

It is time local governments did their job. Of course, it would be unwise for them to simply issue an administrative order requiring all hotels to accept people from Hubei, which might arouse more panic.

A better choice for them is to arrange some hotels to specifically serve guests from Hubei, and appoint some medical agencies to treat them if any are found ill. In that way, travelers from Hubei will get a place to stay, while local residents of other places can avoid panic.

That's also in accordance with the law. The Regulation on Emergent Public Health Incidents has authorized provincial-level governments to take their own measures in case of major public health incidents, while the plans announced by all provincial-level governments include stricter quarantine measures at key transport points, plus the authority to allocate resources to meet people's demands.

On Sunday, Yunnan province took the lead by arranging at least one hotel in each city for Hubei travelers. Guilin city, in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, took a similar measure.

It is hoped that other provinces and cities will follow suit soon. The coronavirus is still spreading, and it is essential for people to stay united against this common enemy, instead of scolding each other.