A Filipino nurse in Australia is now worried for her family’s safety after receiving a letter that demanded them to return to their home country and blamed them for the spread of COVID-19.
Cat Dolendo, who lives with her in-laws in Port Macquarie, New South Wales, found the message while checking their mail box recently.
“F*ck off back to the country you came from and take your f*cking disease with you, you un-Australian c*nts,” the printed letter reads.
The family has been living in Port Macquarie for 20 years. They reportedly consider themselves Australian, calling the place their home.
“[They] have had to deal with constant abuse like this for long enough,” Dolendo said of her husband’s family, according to Daily Mail Australia. “We don’t know what to do.”
Dolendo has since reported the incident to the police, claiming possession of footage that allegedly shows the culprit in action.
The mother of two girls also took to Facebook to share her family’s experience.
“It makes me physically sick that this is what some Australians are like,” one commented.
As of 3 p.m. on Wednesday (local time), Australia has confirmed 6,447 cases of COVID-19. Of this total, 63 have died.
New South Wales reported 2,886 cases, the highest of all seven locations. Victoria (1,299), Queensland (999), Western Australia (532), South Australia (433), Tasmania (168) and Northern Territory (27) follow.
Australia is not only battling the coronavirus, however, as multiple anti-Asian incidents have also been reported in the country. Dolendo and her family’s experience is just one.
Last month, two Asian women in Sydney got spit on and threatened with a knife for “bringing corona” to Australia. More recently, an Asian bus driver was verbally abused by a passenger in Melbourne, who also blamed him for bringing the pathogen to the country.
Feature Image via Getty
