Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claimed many restaurants "are feeling the pain of racism" because people are avoiding Chinese food out of fear of contracting the coronavirus.

"Honestly, it sounds almost so silly to say, but there's a lot of restaurants that are feeling the pain of racism," the New York Democrat said Tuesday night on Instagram Live. "People are literally not patroning Chinese restaurants. They're not patroning Asian restaurants because of just straight-up racism around the coronavirus."

The COVID-19 virus, which originated in Wuhan, China, has hurt Chinese businesses in New York City, according to local business leaders. However, Peter Tu, a director at the Flushing Chinese Business Association, noted that many of those avoiding public outings, such as going out to eat, include the city's east Asian residents themselves.

The spread of the virus has also hurt sales of Corona beer. Anheuser-Busch, which makes the product, announced last month they had lost out on $285 million in revenue amid concern over the outbreak despite there being no association between the beer and the virus.

So far, there have been 1,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States.

