US President Donald Trump on Tuesday sparked a controversy over his “Chinese virus” tweet. Trump later defended his comment and described it as “a very accurate term”.
Interestingly, Trump’s “Chinese virus” comment came on the same day when a UN agency posted a “kind reminder” online, urging people to understand that “viruses have no nationality”.
In a tweet posted on Tuesday morning, UNESCO said, “Kind quick reminder: viruses have no nationality”.
“The fight against #coronavirus needs science, not stigma. It calls for facts, not fear. Together, we will defeat #COVID19,” another tweet by UNESCO read.
{{/usCountry}}“The fight against #coronavirus needs science, not stigma. It calls for facts, not fear. Together, we will defeat #COVID19,” another tweet by UNESCO read.
{{/usCountry}}In his original tweet on Monday, Trump described US airlines and other industries being “particularly affected by the Chinese Virus”.
On Tuesday, he tweeted that some US states were “being hit hard by the Chinese Virus”.
During a press conference, Trump defended his remarks and said, “Well, China was putting out information which was false that our military did this to them. That was false. And rather than having an argument, I said I had to call it where it came from. It did come from China. So I think it’s a very accurate term”.
While Covid-19 has largely come under control in China, it has killed more than 7,000 people around the world and severely disrupted daily life in Western countries.
In India, over 130 people have been infected by coronavirus while three people have been killed. So far, 14 people have recovered from the infection in the country, the Ministry of Health said. Europe has now emerged as the new epicentre of the virus outside China, with countries like Italy and Spain grappling to control the rise in new cases.