Even as the country tries to spur the economy back on a normal path, the stigmatizing of those who have been infected with the novel coronavirus has appeared in the job market.
According to reports, local employers in some places, including Shanghai, exclude recovered patients from applying for positions. Volunteers who worked at temporary quarantine facilities are being discriminated against.
They rub salt in the wounds of those who have already suffered so much, physically from the symptoms of the illness, and mentally as a result of their going through the stressful experience, from infection to recovery, often isolated from their family and friends they are also illegal.
It is against the law to deny people the right to work because discrimination based on gender, age, social and health status is strictly prohibited in China's Labor Law. The disdain for the legal system displayed by some employers shouldn't be tolerated.
There isn't a scientific basis for such prejudice. Most of those who have been infected with the virus and recovered will have some protection against repeat infections, despite the fact that they have been infected with the virus. Rejecting a person only because she once tested positive for the virus is unnecessary as it is unethical and illegal.
Discrimination of any kind is harmful to society. The labor authorities must intervene to correct the wrongs of employers who refuse to recruit people because they were infected with the virus.
Such a practice must be nipped in the bud across the country, so that COVID discrimination doesn't affect society. If that happens, it could deepen the COVID shame already felt by some people after they become infected.
By adding a sense of guilt to their stress and anxiety, it could deter them from having interactions with other people, because there are already over 891,000 people on the Chinese mainland who have been infected and the number is still growing.
It could prompt those who become infected but whose symptoms are mild to avoid medical treatment, or try to hide their health condition or journeys for fear of being targeted for discrimination.
This would make the work of transmission chain tracing more difficult and disrupted the country's prevention and control work.
Like all forms of bigotry, COVID discrimination must not be tolerated.