CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The Chicago Chinatown Chamber of Commerce is encouraging visitors and residents to support the local businesses in the area after reporting a 20 to 50 % drop in sales due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“We are safe here, no people here are affected,” Yu said.
She pointed out the two coronavirus cases in the Chicago area were in suburban Hoffman Estates, nowhere near Chinatown. They have since been cured, the Chicago Department of Public Health reported Feb. 15.
But what has affected the Chinatown neighborhood is misguided public perception, she said. The chamber wants to remind patrons that the businesses need support and should not be subject to assumed fear from the virus.
Yu said the neighborhood hasn’t experienced such a dramatic drop in business like this since the SARS scare 17 years ago.
One visitor from Australia said he has no problem shopping in Chinatown, adding that he is not buying in to the hype over the coronavirus. He said he took international flights to come to Chicago and traveling was fine.
“I just bought some groceries; some bok choy and dried mushrooms,” he said.
Anyone who shows the flyer upon checkout can take advantage of the discounts.