PureInsight | March 28, 2020
[PureInsight.org] The American Shen Yun Performing Arts 2020 World Tour has received warm response in various countries, but some people with ulterior motives utilized the new coronavirus epidemic to spread rumors in an attempt to affect the performance. The Utah Department of Health stated that there is no risk in Shen Yun performances and remind people to be vigilant on rumors.
The spokesman Nicholas Rupp from the Salt Lake County Health Department in Utah State said in an interview with The Washington Post, “Calls to local and state health departments about coronavirus are not unusual, but the link to Shen Yun was ‘something new this weekend,’” Rupp told The Washington Post on Monday night.
The Utah Department of Health also tweeted to remind residents of the state to be wary of rumors, “Many rumors related to COVID-19 circulating on social media are false or contain misinformation. People should be skeptical of rumors they hear on social media that aren’t being reported by reputable health organizations or mainstream media outlets and should not share or repost items unless they are able to confirm that they are true. False and inaccurate social media posts can cause a great deal of harm.”
Angela Dunn, Utah State epidemiologist, speaks at a Department of Health news conference spreading information on the novel coronavirus, in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020. She answered a question: What kind of rumors are going around that are damaging? Dunn said, “The most recent one was with the Shen Yun dancers [now performing at Eccles Theater in Salt Lake City]; there was rumors flying around that they were all sick with COVID-19. And we need to stop it. They are a dance troupe from New York City, and they’ve only been in North America. … This is a scary time. But what I really want the Utah public to know is that with any disease, COVID-19 is not based on race or ethnicity. It is about us and us helping each other out. And those thoughts of discrimination and ostracizing people based on race ethnicity only hurts the situation.”
Utah Dept. of Health on Twitter: “We are aware of several rumors regarding the Shen Yun dance troupe performances in SLC. We have investigated them and have no reason to believe that any members of the Shen Yun dance troupe are infected with COVID-19. These performances pose no risk to Utah residents.”
The Utah Department of Health also reposted the Shen Yun official website link for more information.
Shen Yun official website issued a statement confirming that the coronavirus outbreak was not affecting performances. Shen Yun is not from China and the performances will continue as scheduled. Shen Yun Performing Arts was established in the rolling hills of New York State with the mission of reviving five thousand years of traditional Chinese culture. Such a mission could only be undertaken outside of China. That is because in China the communist regime has spent the last seventy years trying to systematically destroy traditional culture, values and the arts. The Chinese Communist Party, through its embassies and consulates around the world, has repeatedly tried to sabotage Shen Yun performances by writing letters to theaters asking them to cancel shows, and pressuring elected government officials in the United States, New Zealand, Germany, and many other countries. Its attempts have failed, however, and Shen Yun continues to successfully perform to great acclaim.
Chinese version: http://www.zhengjian.org/node/257376
