--- description: When sharing his diagnosis, actor Daniel Dae Kim spoke out against the anti-Asian racism and xenophobia that's risen since the crisis began. title: Actor Daniel Dae Kim Shares His Coronavirus Diagnosis and Calls for an End to 'Cowardly' Anti-Asian Racism image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3d7f41ca0d66896c/698a0bcfb21a9c6b1d503529/daniel-dae-kim-cornavirus-racism.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Actor Daniel Dae Kim Shares His Coronavirus Diagnosis and Calls for an End to 'Cowardly' Anti-Asian Racism  by [Madeleine Carlisle](/author/madeleine-carlisle/)  ## Madeleine Carlisle Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 20, 2020 12:36 AM CUT  Actor Daniel Dae Kim attends the Latinx House Blast Beat Dinner on January 26, 2020 at Latinx house in Park City, Utah. Actor Daniel Dae Kim attends the Latinx House Blast Beat Dinner on January 26, 2020 at Latinx house in Park City, Utah.Mat Hayward—The Latinx House/Getty Images  by [Madeleine Carlisle](/author/madeleine-carlisle/)  ## Madeleine Carlisle Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 20, 2020 12:36 AM CUT American actor Daniel Dae Kim announced on Thursday that he has tested positive for [COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.](https://time.com/magazine/ "undefined") Kim — who is known for his roles on _Hawaii Five-0_ and _Lost_ — shared the news in a 10-minute video posted to his Instagram. He had been filming the series _New Amsterdam_ in New York City for the past several weeks before the show halted production because of the threat of the virus. In a darkly ironic twist, he was playing a doctor working to respond to a flu pandemic. Kim, 51, said he began feeling ill while returning home on a flight to Hawaii, and later began to experience chest tightness, body aches and a fever. He said he self-isolated since returning, leaving only to go to a [drive-through coronavirus](https://time.com/5805622/coronavirus-pandemic-technology/ "undefined") testing facility in Honolulu. The actor explained that while he was [diagnosed with COVID-19](https://time.com/5797300/coronavirus-incubation-period/ "undefined") and has experienced symptoms, he has not needed to go to the hospital and has started to feel better. His family has all tested negative for the virus. In the video, Kim also spoke out against [the xenophobia and anti-Asian racism](https://time.com/5797836/coronavirus-racism-stereotypes-attacks/ "undefined") that’s risen since the [coronavirus crisis](https://time.com/5805894/coronavirus-charts/ "undefined") began. “Please, please stop the prejudice and senseless violence against Asian people,” he said. “Randomly beating elderly, sometimes homeless Asian Americans is cowardly, heartbreaking and it’s inexcusable.” Racist attacks against Asian people have been [reported](https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/20/us/coronavirus-racist-attacks-against-asian-americans/index.html "undefined") in Los Angeles, New York and other cities around the world. Kim, who was born in South Korea but raised in the U.S., also subtly addressed [President Donald Trump](https://time.com/5805683/trump-administration-coronavirus/ "undefined")‘s decision to [refer to COVID-19 as “the Chinese virus,”](https://time.com/5806657/donald-trump-coronavirus-war-china/ "undefined") which many have decried as racist. An image of the President’s prepared remarks on Thursday show the word “corona” crossed out and replaced with “Chinese.”  A close-up of President Trump's notes shows where the word "Corona" was crossed out and replaced with "Chinese" during a briefing at the White House on March 19, 2020. Jabin Botsford—The Washington Post/Getty Images “Yes, I’m Asian. And yes, I have coronavirus. But I did not get it from China, I got it in America. In New York City,” Kim said in the Instagram video. “Despite what certain political leaders want to call it, I don’t consider the place where it’s from as important as the people who are sick and dying.” “If I did, I would call this thing the ‘New York virus,’ but that would be silly, right?” he continued. Stars including [Tom Hanks](https://time.com/5801852/tom-hanks-coronavirus/ "undefined") and Idris Elba have also announced they contracted the virus. As of Thursday evening ET, there are at least 242,191 confirmed cases and at least 9,843 deaths from the virus around the world, [according to a tracker from Johns Hopkins University.](https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html "undefined") “I’m grateful to be alive and healthy,” Kim said, thanking his friends, family and fans for their support. “It gives me hope that through our collective efforts we can beat this thing and flatten the curve.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5806921/daniel-dae-kim-coronavirus-racism/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5806921/daniel-dae-kim-coronavirus-racism/"},"headline":"Actor Daniel Dae Kim Shares His Coronavirus Diagnosis and Calls for an End to 'Cowardly' Anti-Asian Racism","datePublished":"2020-03-20T00:36:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:45:59.664Z","description":"\"Yes, I'm Asian. And yes, I have coronavirus. But I did not get it from China, I got it in America. In New York City\"","url":"https://time.com/5806921/daniel-dae-kim-coronavirus-racism/","keywords":["Newsfeed","COVID-19","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3d7f41ca0d66896c/698a0bcfb21a9c6b1d503529/daniel-dae-kim-cornavirus-racism.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Madeleine Carlisle","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/madeleine-carlisle/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3d7f41ca0d66896c/698a0bcfb21a9c6b1d503529/daniel-dae-kim-cornavirus-racism.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"daniel dae kim coronavirus racism","caption":"daniel dae kim coronavirus racism","creditText":"Mat Hayward—The Latinx House/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5806921/daniel-dae-kim-coronavirus-racism/","name":"Actor Daniel Dae Kim Shares His Coronavirus Diagnosis and Calls for an End to 'Cowardly' Anti-Asian Racism"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"President Trump Addresses Nation Amid COVID-19 Outbreak","description":"President Donald Trump said Wednesday he is suspending all travel between the U.S. and Europe for 30 days beginning Friday as he seeks to combat a viral pandemic.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/vfJuEXX8/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2020-03-12T01:46:48.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vfJuEXX8.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5806921/daniel-dae-kim-coronavirus-racism/","duration":"PT9M30S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5806921/daniel-dae-kim-coronavirus-racism/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```