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After the first case of novel coronavirus in the Bay Area was reported on Friday, some Lunar New Year celebrations in the region were canceled or postponed.
But not San Francisco’s second annual Ocean Avenue celebration, which took place on Saturday. We spoke with some of its attendees to see how they felt about the global outbreak of the virus.
The short answer: People were only mildly concerned.
San Francisco resident Michael Lum said he’s “not particularly concerned” about catching the virus as most of the cases seem to be concentrated in the region of Wuhan, China, also adding that several countries have implemented quarantine and screening practices.
Lum said canceling public events seemed unnecessary.
“In this geographic vicinity, I think, [it] probably was an overreaction,” he said. “Just because of the fact that there’s been so much more media exposure to this particular contagion, everybody’s really panicking.”
The media’s role in causing panic was a common theme.
Libby Lee-David, another San Francisco local, attended Saturday’s celebration to watch her two daughters perform a ribbon dance.
She said her oldest daughter grew really concerned when she began exhibiting flu-like symptoms last week. “She actually started looking at symptoms of the coronavirus, thinking that [it] might have impacted her,” Lee-David said.
“She’s an eighth grader, and I think they talked about it amongst themselves. Also, a lot of the information they get is through social media,” Lee-David added.
Another attendee, Livia Lawrenz, said she’s been hearing about the coronavirus on the news but believes the flu is more dangerous.
She’s right: The influenza killed more than 10,000 Americans last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Lawrenz said she’s not worried about coronavirus, and she doesn’t know anyone who is.
