WHO Officials Warn US President Donald Trump After Calling Coronavirus ‘Chinese Virus’

WHO officials released a statement after President Donald Trump called coronavirus a “Chinese virus.”

On Wednesday, Trump took to Twitter and made a controversial post calling the novel coronavirus a “Chinese virus.” He downplayed his previous statement calling it a hoax by saying that he has always treated the pandemic seriously.

Many criticized the POTUS and even called him a liar because his statement contradicted how he reacted to the issue just a few days ago. But more were irked because of the way he named the virus, with some calling the POTUS “racist.”

The World Health Organization officials have warned against calling the new coronvirus “Chinese virus” as what Trump has done. The officials said that doing so could “unintentionally lead to racial profiling.”

“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. So it’s really important we be careful in the language we use lest it lead to the profiling of individuals associated with the virus,” Dr. Mike Ryan, the executive director of WHO’s emergencies program, said at a news conference Wednesday, CNBC reported.

However, on his part, Trump insisted that it wasn’t racist to use the term because the disease originated there.

“Cause it comes from China. It's not racist at all, no, not at all. It comes from China, that's why. I want to be accurate,” Trump said.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates agreed that the disease-causing virus should not be called “Chinese virus.” Several netizens on Twitter also reacted with dismay over the term the POTUS used for the novel coronavirus.

“He is going to keep calling the coronavirus the ‘Chinese virus’ until it becomes an acceptable term for all Americans. When an Asian American schoolgirl sneezes because of an allergy, all the kids will bully her for having the Chinese Virus. We’ll be subjected to hate crimes too,” @eugenegu commented.

“If Covid-19 is the #ChineseVirus, then Trump is definitely the #AmericanVirus,” @badseedbook added.