Just how justified is Trump in talking about the "China Virus"?

@indexer (4852)
Leicester, England
October 15, 2020 11:18am CST
Donald Trump loves to blame someone else when things go wrong - nothing has gone more wrong that the Covid-19 pandemic, and he thinks he has an easy target in China as its source. He has even given the impression that he believes that China deliberately exported the virus to the United States with the sole purpose of upsetting his re-election campaign! I am not sure that he has actually ever said that in so many words, but it is clear that some of his supporters have taken that line. He and Mike Pence have in any case made great play of the fact that he - apparently - took immediate action back in January in banning all flights from China and thus saved "millions of lives". He has recently defended his use of the term "China virus" rather than "corona virus" on the grounds that "Corona" sounds like a place in Italy, which is clearly not the same as China! However, there could be an interesting and ironic error being made here. Let's leave aside the fact that the word "coronavirus" has nothing at all to do with its geographic origin (it refers to the physical appearance of this class of viruses), and think for a minute about Italy. We are fairly sure that the virus reached the UK as a result of ski tourists returning to the UK from the Italian Alps, and not directly from the Wuhan region of China where it it originated. North Italy was the worst affected region of Europe during the early weeks of the pandemic. The notion that thousands of infected Chinese people were swarming into the United States in those early days does sound more than a little far-fetched - do Chinese nationals from an impoverished region of the country really do that much international travel? However, Italians are far more likely to fly to the United States. There is a huge population of Italian Americans living along the eastern seaboard, and that is precisely where the worst outbreaks occurred in the early days - notably in New York State. You are more likely to find Chinese nationals on the other side of the continent, where many of their ancestors migrated to from across the Pacific. Back in January, Trump did indeed restrict air travel from China - although Americans returning from China did not face the same restrictions. However, flights from Europe - including Italy - continued unabated for some time. So the "China virus" may indeed have originated in China, but is it not just as true that it is also the "Italy virus" by virtue of the fact that that country was probably the source of most of the infections that actually reached the United States?
10 people like this
10 responses
@pjmurphy (2498)
• United States
15 Oct 20
Here in the USA, many, if not most, of us discount almost everything the buffoon in the White House says. And we're constantly surprised with the number of people who actually believe what he says. And then we remember that buffoon is our president and all those people who believe him can vote.
2 people like this
@indexer (4852)
• Leicester, England
17 Oct 20
One begins to wonder if the fake news is not being deliberately pushed in his direction to see if he will take the bait! (he usually does, it would appear!)
@indexer (4852)
• Leicester, England
17 Oct 20
@indexer I have just seen the answer to this query - there is a satire site called The Babylon Bee that Trump is apparently swallowing hook, line and sinker! He has admitted that he does not always read the pieces he retweets - which is just what the satirists will love to hear!
@DianneN (254926)
• United States
15 Oct 20
I despise that term and him both as a human being and as our President.
2 people like this
@DianneN (254926)
• United States
15 Oct 20
@eileenleyva (27555)
• Philippines
16 Oct 20
A summary of the pandemic. News has it though that there was a Brit who flew in to France after a conference in Singapore. He did infect a few. News has it also that there are Chinese investors in Italy, and the country has been a prime destination of the Chinese for holiday breaks. I don't think it is correct to call one virus with two names.
2 people like this
@topffer (42155)
• France
15 Oct 20
During the 16th C, the syphilis was called the Naples disease by French, the French disease by Italians, the German disease by Poles, the Polish disease by Russians, etc. Take your preferred enemy and blame it for any new disease. Actually names of new diseases are given by the WHO, however as Trump's USA left the WHO he can call it like a man from the Middle Age would. For many points he is a living anachronism.
2 people like this
@indexer (4852)
• Leicester, England
15 Oct 20
Likewise the Spanish Flu after World War I had very little to do with Spain!
1 person likes this
@Juliaacv (56396)
• Canada
15 Oct 20
People should never ever give any credibility to anything that man says. He wouldn't know the truth if it came up and hit him in the head. I feel very sorry for the people of that country as his actions and words are his alone, and they are generally not at all like him.
1 person likes this
@indexer (4852)
• Leicester, England
17 Oct 20
I think we are witnessing another stage in his mental decline that even his most fervent supporters must become aware of before much longer.
2 people like this
@MarieCoyle (59370)
17 Oct 20
I was raised to be proud of our country. Now, I'm not. To have a person like Trump representing us is shameful and embarrassing. He cares only about himself, and it's true what you said, he wouldn't know the truth if it smacked him in the head. I hope and pray this is will end shortly.
2 people like this
@Juliaacv (56396)
• Canada
17 Oct 20
@MarieCoyle He has insulted the residents of our country by things he has deliberately said about us as the president. That was hurtful.
1 person likes this
@Bensen32 (28658)
• United States
16 Oct 20
Not the first time he has said something dumb and it wont be the last but then again, that stands true for most everyone. His just gets more attention and media coverage than the rest of us.
2 people like this
@rsa101 (41028)
• Philippines
26 Oct 20
Well l would agree that it originated from China. The one in Italy started as well because they have a train that comes directly from China and it continued to deliver goods to the country which includes the virus. What happened to US was that they did flight restrictions kind of late already. They didn’t have implemented quarantine protocol for incoming passengers coming in. I think that started the fast spreading of the disease in the US.
• Germany
20 Oct 20
It's also rather racist to call it "China virus" when it is a global pandemic.
@indexer (4852)
• Leicester, England
20 Oct 20
Being racist has never stopped The Donald!
@jrlcentral (2605)
• Roxas, Philippines
16 Oct 20
The virus may have originated in China. But how many Chinese people who went to other countries were actually infected by the virus?
1 person likes this
@indexer (4852)
• Leicester, England
16 Oct 20
One suspects very few, given that China is a vast country and most of its citizens do not do a lot of travelling within its borders. The assumption that a large proportion of people travelling out of China to other countries were carrying the virus must be an extremely questionable one.
@NJChicaa (127180)
• United States
15 Oct 20
More cases came here from Italy than from China. He is a racist.
1 person likes this