摘要
The stigma associated with the disease may be as subtle as avoidance,or dramatic as physical aggression.COVID-19 has begun to cause social disruption by growing disease-related stigma and xenophobia against some cultural,national,racial or religious groups worldwide.1 People of East Asian origin and those with facial features like them,or those with a travel history to areas affected by the outbreak,are especially being subjected to xenophobia in personal contact and online threats.COVID-19 has arisen as an unknown and newly emerged highly contagious infection that has spread rapidly across the globe and is associated with high mortality,leading to fear of encountering those infected.2 Leaders across the world have taken strict measures such as lockdowns and shutdown of various vital services that have caused chaos in people’s lives and increased concerns about the disease.3 Box 1 lists the factors leading to stigmatisation towards those infected with COVID-19.
