Coronavirus is a Chinese virus—it’s not racist to say that

Let’s immediately get this out of the way—the COVID-19 coronavirus originated in China. From what we can tell, it did not start with bat soup. Whether or not it started in the now-infamous Wuhan wet market is now a bit more muddled up than before, as the world has learned that it is a very real possibility that China swept the virus’s spread under the rug for weeks.

None of this changes the fact, though, that this is a Chinese virus, and more importantly, a Chinese pandemic that has now become the world’s problem. That is not to say that the response by other countries couldn’t have been better—certainly, Italy and the United States could have sprung into action sooner, potentially saving hundreds of lives. But this doesn’t absolve China of any blame.

One recent study released by the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom found that had China not lied about the spread of coronavirus, thousands globally would have avoided infection or even death. That study concluded that if China had acted three weeks earlier, the global cases of the virus could have been slashed by a whopping 95 percent.

The reason this matters is because the Chinese government (which absolutely should be distinguished from the Chinese general public) have made a concerted effort to reshape the narrative around their massive roll in the global pandemic which has claimed the lives of just over 9,000 people worldwide.

But it isn’t just the faceless bots and the poorly informed that are going to bat for China—it’s also the shameless hypocrites over at cable news outlets like CNN that would like to reshape the narrative.

Because US President Donald Trump has so unapologetically called the virus “the Chinese virus,”—a labeling that is not an action but rather a reaction to China’s effort to blame the United States for the virus—and because of the mainstream’s commitment to being the left-hand path against Donald Trump, Chris Cuomo and spineless talking heads of the same ilk are critical of the verifiable narrative that the virus started in China.

One video even shows CNN calling the virus the “Wuhan coronavirus” on several occasions before Trump made the same distinction. It’s no surprise, but when you realize that some news outlets would rather spew out CCP talking points than rightfully originate a deadly virus, it makes one wonder whose side they’re really on.

Or take Elizabeth Warren, for example, who is so afraid of being called racist, that she blurred out the world "Chinese" in a Donald Trump tweet, as to not factually point out where the virus originated.

It’s tough not to fall for some of the propaganda. Since China has seemingly gotten their own Chinese virus problem under control, the country has made coordinated efforts to help struggling countries like Italy in their pandemic, by donating hundreds of thousands of medical masks and ventilators. It’s important to remember who we’re dealing with. Though good spirited enough, it’s naive to think this won’t be used as a bargaining chip when Chinese 5G technology comes knocking at the door.

All of this is a long winded way to confirm that this virus is a Chinese virus, and should be referred to as such. Wuhan Flu, the Wuhan coronavirus, or simply the Chinese virus, are all factually accurate and deserve no scrutiny. After all, when was the last time you heard someone scrutinize other localized illnesses like the West Nile Virus, Lyme Disease, Ebola, MERS, or the Zika Virus? Never.

I apologize for having to play the role of Captain Obvious from those really bad Hotels commercials, but sadly, nothing really goes without saying anymore.