Reports of racism towards Africans in China continue to emerge with the latest excuse for this primitive behaviour being blamed on the Coronavirus.

After five Nigerians tested positive for COVID-19 in Guangzhou, China, the government ordered all residents of African descent to quarantine for 14 days, a move that led to businesses and landlords to issue evictions and bans that many in the African community said were based on discrimination.Following the outbreak, Guangzhou officials announced that all residents of African descent—about 4,500 people—must quarantine for 14 days “regardless of their previous circumstances or how long they have been in Guangzhou,” reported the South China Morning Post, adding that African residents’ homes will be monitored with tracking devices that will alert officials if they “open the door.”

The ban led to reports of African residents being evicted and banned from businesses; people have taken to social media to document evicted African residents sleeping on the street, interacting with police and Nigerian diplomats delivering food to their now-homeless compatriots, causing foreign ministers of Uganda, Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria to speak out in protest.