Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told people to stop going to bars and restaurants just days after saying racism was hurting Chinese restaurants because of a drop-off in business.
“To everyone in NYC but ESPECIALLY healthy people & people under 40 (bc from what I’m observing that’s who needs to hear this again): PLEASE stop crowding bars, restaurants, and public spaces right now. Eat your meals at home,” the New York Democrat said Saturday. “If you are healthy, you could be spreading COVID.”
What does “crowded” mean?
If you can’t stay 6ft away from other people, it’s too close. In general, when going outside try to stay at least 6 feet away from others as much as you possibly can.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 14, 2020
On Tuesday, the freshman congresswoman blamed racism for Asian businesses struggling in New York since the outbreak of the coronavirus.
“Honestly, it sounds almost so silly to say, but there’s a lot of restaurants that are feeling the pain of racism,” she said on Instagram Live. “People are literally not patroning Chinese restaurants. They’re not patroning Asian restaurants because of just straight-up racism around the coronavirus.”
Peter Tu, a director at the Flushing Chinese Business Association, noted that a lot of the drop-off in business came from East Asian residents in New York avoiding public spaces.
So far, 2,345 people in 49 states have confirmed cases of the coronavirus. At least 50 people have died from the virus.
