In early 2020, Lili Wu was already B次元官网网址渁rmed to the teethB次元官网网址� whenever she ventured to public places near her home in Port Coquitlam, B.C. B次元官网网址� face mask, sanitizer, protective eyewear and gloves.

It was more than a month before the World Health OrganizationB次元官网网址檚 March declaration of a global pandemic that introduced most other Canadians to concepts like masking and social distancing.

But for Wu and many other members of CanadaB次元官网网址檚 Chinese-speaking communities, the outbreak that was exploding out of Wuhan, China, did not seem like a distant problem around the start of the Lunar New Year.

B次元官网网址淲hen I came across the horrible news related to COVID-19 in China, I asked my two kids to watch with me together to give a sense of what was going on there,B次元官网网址� Wu said.

B次元官网网址淭hen we took protective measures together B次元官网网址� I was among the first group of people in Canada to wear masks.B次元官网网址�

Almost five years on from the official start of the pandemic, Chinese Canadians are reflecting on how their early precautions were met with confusion, ridicule and hostility.

But their measures, including masking and avoiding crowds, would eventually become accepted as key strategies.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e learned a lot,B次元官网网址� said Dr. Susan Poutanen, a medical microbiologist and infectious disease physician at Mount Sinai Hospital and University Health Network in Toronto.

B次元官网网址淲e were not using masking (before the start oif the pandemic) to the level that we are now, and I think weB次元官网网址檝e learned a lot about the ability for it to help, and we learned a lot about it not just in the role of symptomatic people, but in terms of asymptomatic people and the potential for asymptomatic spread.B次元官网网址�

Kim Hsieh, a music producer living in Coquitlam, recalled taking her infant son wearing a mask on a grocery run before a mask mandate was put in place in B.C.

The reaction of another shopper stuck in her memory.

B次元官网网址淪he just walked by me and said, B次元官网网址業 canB次元官网网址檛 believe you let young children wear a mask. How awful are you as a parent?B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淪he said it right in my face,B次元官网网址� Hsieh recalled. B次元官网网址淎t that time, I wanted to yell to her, you know, B次元官网网址榤ind your own business.B次元官网网址� But I didnB次元官网网址檛. I just politely walked away and vented on my Facebook.B次元官网网址�

Many Chinese restaurants in Metro Vancouver reported a sharp slide in business as Chinese community members hunkered down in January 2020 around Lunar New Year when eateries are traditionally filled to capacity. Lunar New Year occurs this week, on Wednesday.

Some new year festivities in B.C.B次元官网网址檚 Lower Mainland were cancelled in 2020, while others were downsized or sparsely attended. Celebrations had already been cancelled across China.

Officials from all three levels of Canadian government responded that February by trying to encourage people to get out and socialize in Chinese restaurants in B.C., and suggested the empty seats were due to misinformation about COVID-19 that had stigmatized the establishments.

Surrey resident Steele Zhang described some of the reactions in Canada as B次元官网网址渂izarre,B次元官网网址� and he said he could not understand why few outside the Chinese community seemed to be taking the threat of the virus seriously.

B次元官网网址淭he looks we got were not just simply as if weB次元官网网址檙e being weird,B次元官网网址� Zhang said. B次元官网网址淲e also felt some animosity behind those looks because the belief was the virus came from (China), and weB次元官网网址檙e from there, so there was tension for sure.B次元官网网址�

Vancouver police statistics show that hate-crime incidents targeting East Asian people surged by more than 700 per cent in 2020 from 12 to 98 cases.

University of British Columbia history professor Henry Yu said the spike did not surprise him.

B次元官网网址淥ver this course of COVID, what began in those first four months is actually quite targeted,B次元官网网址� said Yu. B次元官网网址淏次元官网网址楾he threat is people from China.B次元官网网址� It was already part of the broader discourse in 2019 in terms of housing prices (and) foreign buyers.

B次元官网网址淪o that was the initial reaction, even as Chinese (people) were actually the first to really be aware, especially those with ties to Hong Kong, (to) wear a mask and stop going into crowded places.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址榃E DID THE RIGHT THINGB次元官网网址�

Once the pandemic was officially underway, data would eventually emerge suggesting caution in Chinese communities had yielded results, notably in the Metro Vancouver community of Richmond, B.C.

The cityB次元官网网址檚 population is 54 per cent ethnically Chinese, according to the 2021 census, making it the most Chinese city in North America.

More than two years into the pandemic, British ColumbiaB次元官网网址檚 COVID-19 case distribution report in July 2022 showed the city had an infection rate by far the lowest in the Lower Mainland, and less than half of that in nearby Surrey. In a colour-coded infection heat map from that time, Richmond stands out as a pale island, surrounded by more heavily infected neighbouring municipalities.

Zhang says he has no doubt why RichmondB次元官网网址檚 COVID-19 numbers were so low before the virus mutated and new variants resulted in much higher rate of spread worldwide.

B次元官网网址淚 believe the COVID-19 cases in the Chinese community were the lowest since we paid so much attention to the pandemic and we set up systems to protect ourselves from COVID-19,B次元官网网址� he said.

Poutanen said the process of making health recommendations against a new, evolving virus was similar to shooting at a moving target.

Health officials in Canada initially recommended against mask use by healthy, asymptomatic individuals. That ran counter to what health officials were saying in China and Hong Kong.

B次元官网网址淚nitially the thought was (for) symptomatic masking, but general masking was not needed,B次元官网网址� Poutanen said of the Canadian response.

B次元官网网址淭hat was partly because the thought was symptomatic spread is predominantly how this was being transmitted, but that changed. I certainly think that no question, masking B次元官网网址� the mask mandates and knowledge of what masking can do now B次元官网网址� is one of the ongoing infection control measures that we continue to use that is effective.B次元官网网址�

Wu and other Chinese community members pointed to memories of the SARS outbreak from 2002 to 2004 in Hong Kong and mainland China, where hundreds of people died, as the dominant factor in their response to COVID-19. SARS also killed more than 40 people in Canada.

Wu still winces at the thought of how she was treated in the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

B次元官网网址淚t was just like it happened from yesterday,B次元官网网址� Wu said, recalling being B次元官网网址渢he centre of attentionB次元官网网址� when she went masked and gloved into a grocery store, other shoppers B次元官网网址渞olling their eyes.B次元官网网址�

However, she said it did not let it deter her.

B次元官网网址淚f I can go back to five years ago, I would still do the same thing,B次元官网网址� Wu said, adding that she felt the actions of the Chinese community ultimately benefited everyone.

B次元官网网址淚 think we did the right thing.B次元官网网址�