Present Trump has infuriated Beijing for referring to COVID-19 as the Chinese Virus on Twitter. On Monday President Trump tweeted that in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that “the United States will be powerfully supporting industries affected by the Chinese Virus.” In response, Beijing has demanded that President Trump stop calling the COVID-19, the “Chinese Virus.” President Trump is standing by his statement.
The United States will be powerfully supporting those industries, like Airlines and others, that are particularly affected by the Chinese Virus. We will be stronger than ever before!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 16, 2020
President Trump is ignoring with Bejing’s request on calling COVID-19 the “Chinese Virus.” Trump while speaking about New York’s governor Andrew Cuomo’s request to activate the military to built extra emergency hospitals nationwide to handle patients with COVID-19, the President explained that “each state is different.” President Trump continued to state, “some are being hit hard by the “Chinese Virus.”
Cuomo wants “all states to be treated the same.” But all states aren’t the same. Some are being hit hard by the Chinese Virus, some are being hit practically not at all. New York is a very big “hotspot”, West Virginia has, thus far, zero cases. Andrew, keep politics out of it….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2020
Geng Shuang, a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry expressed his anger over President Trump’s remarks. Shuang called the President’s remarks as a “smear” campaign against China. Shuang stated the “U.S. needs to stop pointing their finger and mind their own business.” Shuang continued, “the US should focus on its top priority.”
Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton stated he was looking into holding China responsible for the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. Cotton accuses Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory of the global pandemic. On March 12, the World Health Organization declared a global coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.
The Wuhan National Bio-safety Laboratory is located in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Wuhan’s National Bio-safety Laboratory is in the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The National Bio-safety Laboratory works with the world’s most dangerous pathogens. Chinese microbiologists work with pathogens handled at Biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) level.
A BSL-4 level means that microbiologists work with agents aerosol-transmitted that cause severe to fatal diseases that have no cure or that have vaccines. In order to enter the bio-safety laboratory microbiologists must wear a positive pressure protective suit (PPPS). When leaving the laboratory a person needs to go through an airlock system, have disinfectant showers, use special waste disposal systems and need to shower again before leaving the building.
The coronavirus COVID-19 was first identified in Wuhan, Hubei, China in December 2019 during an outbreak. At first Chinese officials tried to contain the outbreak and did not inform the World Health Organization (WHO) of the deadly virus. It was not until February 10, 2020, that a team of medical experts from WHO arrived in China to begin investigating the COVID-19 outbreak.
Dr. Li Wenliang, an ophthalmologist, at Wuhan Central Hospital on December 30, 2019, was the first doctor to sound the alarm on the COVID-19 on Wechat. Dr. Wenliang informed his colleagues that there were seven cases of the virus and that he was concerned. On January 3, 2020, Dr. Wenliang was taken in by the Chinese police and was accused of spreading false information on the internet. The police told him to keep his mouth shut about the virus or face arrest. Dr. Wenliang returned back to work.
Dr. Wenliang is believed that while seeing a patient on January 7, that he contracted COVID-19. The patient developed a high fever the day after the visit. By January 10, Dr. Wenliang began coughing and went into self-quarantine on January 12. It was not until January 30, that he tested positive for the virus. On February 5, his condition worsed and on February 6 Dr. Wenliang succumbed to the virus.
The coronavirus COVID-19 is highly contiguous and symptoms can be mild to severe. Symptoms of the virus may appear 2-14 days after exposure and can include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Severe emergency symptoms include shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, confusion, inability to get up, bluish lips or face, persistent pain and or pressure in the chest.
It is recommended if you are sick stay at home. If you are showing symptoms of the virus or suspect you were exposed to the virus call your physician, hospital or local health department for information on where to get tested for COVID-19 and self-quarantine.
It has also been recommended in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, that you wash your hands whenever possible or use a hand sanitizer that contains 60% alcohol if you can not wash your hands right away. If you sneeze or cough, cover your mouth and nose in your elbow and throw dirty tissues away immediately. and wear a mask if you are sick. Do not shake hands with others. It has also been recommended to use social distancing to keep people at least 6 feet away from yourself, and do not gather in a group of 5 or more people.