Asian-American Health Care Workers Face Hate Crimes While Fighting The Pandemic

Medical student Natty Oranicha Jumreornvong speaks at a microphone with Dr. Michelle Lee standing to her left.

Natty Oranicha Jumreornvong was assaulted on her way to the hospital.

A man came up to the third-year medical student and called her “Chinese virus,” she said, recounting the February episode. When she tried to de-escalate, he kicked her and dragged her to the ground. The attack left her hands bleeding and legs bruised. When she called for help, nobody came. She was wearing her medical scrubs.

“It’s horrible, it’s happening, and unfortunately, white coats do not protect us from racism,” said Jumreornvong, who is from Thailand and studies at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Her assault is part of a litany of racist incidents that she has experienced since the beginning of the pandemic. One patient called her “Kung Flu,” she said, and after a separate rotation at the hospital, a woman with a child came up to her and said “Chinese virus,” telling her to go back to China.

The injuries forced her to take a few weeks off from her hospital rotations, sparking her own activism against such anti-Asian discrimination—and a path toward healing.

WNYC health reporter Sydney Pereira speaks with Morning Edition host Michael Hill about Asian American health care workers who are facing hate while also trying to keep people alive in New York City. Click "Listen" in the player to hear their conversation.

For more on how Jumreornvong and other medical professionals are speaking out, head to Gothamist.