NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- As the coronavirus pandemic continues to grip the world with 200,000 cases reported, President Donald Trump often refers to the virus as the "Chinese Virus."
During a White House briefing on Wednesday, a reporter asked him why he keeps calling it the "Chinese virus" since a lot of people say it's racist.
"Because it comes from China, it's not racist at all, no not at all," Trump said. It comes from China. I want to be accurate."
When asked about President Trump's continued use of the term "Chinese virus" when referring to the novel coronavirus, Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization health emergencies programme, said "It's really important that we be careful in the language we use."
"There are many different origins … the pandemic of influenza in 2009 originated in North America and we don't call it the 'North American flu,' so it's very important that we have the same approach when it comes to other viruses," Ryan adds. "There is no blame in this."
