A market trader in Wales has accused fellow stallholders of bigotry after she was told to leave her stall because of fears she might have coronavirus.
Su Chu Lu, 54, returned to the historic indoor market in Aberystwyth, west Wales, after travelling to Taiwan – hundreds of miles from the centre of the outbreak in Wuhan – only for traders to tell her she was “putting them all at risk”.
Su, who has been running her stall for 15 years, said some traders held a meeting to ban her from reopening the shop in Aberystwyth Market Hall.
“When I arrived at the hall and got to my own stall the man who works opposite mine immediately asked me to leave the building,” said Su. “He stressed that every member of the hall all think I must leave the building otherwise he will contact the council to force me out.” She said another trader next to him supported his demand.
“I was really upset, it was very emotional and upsetting, and I’m angry,” said Su. “There are so many cases of the virus in the rest of this world, so why did this trader target me? I have no doubt it is because of my nationality, because of my skin colour. That’s what makes me deeply unhappy about this.”
“I think they assume I have gone to China but I didn’t go, and they still didn’t believe me. I don’t know if they believe me now.”
She said she was willing to forgive them as she just wanted an end to the issue.
Other traders have rallied round to back her by putting posters up on their stalls saying: “I support Su Chu Lu.”
David Gilbert, a jeweller, said: “I immediately gave Su Chu Lu my continued support. This has been caused by a minority in the market hall.”
But another trader, who asked not to be named, said: “If she had been to London or France and there had been an outbreak there it would have been the same. It’s not something we’re all involved in, and I don’t think it was handled the best way but [it was] not ever intended to be racial.”
The government’s advice is for anyone returning from Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, to stay indoors. Anyone travelling from elsewhere in China is advised to stay indoors only if they are showing symptoms.
Taiwan has 10 confirmed cases of coronavirus, compared with two in the UK. In Hubei, there have been more than 13,000 infections and more than 400 deaths.