Los Angeles County officials and members of the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council held a news conference in downtown to bring to light racism caused by the coronavirus. According to CBS, an unnamed 16-year-old Los Angeles County student was physically assaulted in a racist attack due to the coronavirus outbreak. The Asian student was taken to the hospital and treated. The officials did not go into details of the attack but noted the police were investigating.

“And when I heard of the recent incident of a young child being bullied, and actually was assaulted, because he was pointed out as being of Asian background and children, unfortunately, repeat things that are said by other people, including their own parents,” L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis told reporters. “We need to put a stop to that.”

The coronavirus started in Wuhan, China and has spread to other countries. However, the number of those infected outside of China is small. In China, there are over 60,000 infected with over a thousand deaths. While the United States has confirmed 15 coronavirus cases with 7 in California.

“Our goal is to send out accurate information to all of our 80 districts, reaching over two million children, to tell them there is no need for excessive fear, that there is very minimal risk of contacting the coronavirus, and that we will not tolerate any type of bullying,” L.A. County Superintendent of Schools Debra Duardo said.

There has been a rise in anti-Asian backlash since the coronavirus outbreak. Recently, an eighth-grade Asian student at Walter Reed Middle School in Hollywood, CA was sent to the nurse’s office by the teacher for coughing. The student, Dylan Muriano said he was targeted because he was Asian. He said that other non-Asian students in his class were not asked to leave despite coughing.