it shouldn't be, it has a generic name

An official with the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday warned against referring to COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus,” saying that it could lead to racial profiling against Asians when “there is no blame in this.”

Mike Ryan, the executive director of WHO’s Emergencies Program, at a news conference urged people to be “careful” with the language they use when referring to the ongoing pandemic.

“Viruses know no borders and they don’t care about your ethnicity, the color of your skin or how much money you have in the bank,” Ryan said.

He warned against characterizing the virus in a way that could encourage xenophobic behavior, saying he was sure “anyone would regret profiling a virus along those lines.”

Ryan noted that a pandemic of influenza in 2009 originated in North America but “we don’t call it the North American flu.”

“This is a time for solidarity, this is a time for facts, this is a time to move forward together, to fight this virus together. There is no blame in this,” he said. “All we need now is to identify the things we need to do to move forward quickly, with speed and to avoid any indication of ethnic or other associations with this virus.”

Posted By: Tombs, Dec 29, 14:29:07