'Due to COVID-19...' Racial Discrimination Against Asian Medical Staff in Melbourne, Australia

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] On the 27th (local time), The Guardian reported that at a hospital in Melbourne, Australia, there was an incident where Asian doctors and nurses were refused treatment. The Australian government strongly criticized the racist behavior that used the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) as a pretext.

According to the report, the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne stated that some parents refused to entrust their children's treatment to Asian doctors and nurses and sat apart from other patients.

Stuart Rebeena, head of the emergency department at the Royal Children's Hospital, said that the parents of a child receiving treatment at the hospital expressed reluctance to be treated by the medical staff due to concerns about COVID-19 infection, and that they became aware of this fact. He stated that they clearly made related remarks based on racial issues. He added, "We emphasized to those families that we could not accept that message and supported our medical staff."

Later, three other medical staff members had similar experiences but just endured them. Rebeena explained that he sent an email to all hospital employees on how to respond when experiencing similar racist behavior. The email included a script on how to respond when facing racial discrimination related to COVID-19.

Jenny Mikakos, Minister of Health for Victoria, where Melbourne is located, said, "Fear of COVID-19 cannot be an excuse for racist behavior," adding, "We cannot tolerate such incidents occurring in public hospitals. People cannot choose the doctors and nurses who will be responsible for them."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.