Trump calls to protect Asian Americans after 'Chinese Virus' backlash

US President Donald Trump has called for the protection of the Asian American community after he was accused of fueling a backlash against them by calling the novel coronavirus as “Chinese Virus”. Trump took to Twitter to clarify that the COVID-19 outbreak is not the fault of the Asian Americans and highlighted that they have been working closely to combat it.

According to media reports, the Asian American community has been witnessing racist attacks after the coronavirus outbreak and repetitive use of the term “Chinese Virus” by the US President as well as other officials. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has explicitly advised against associating a virus with a region, nation and community.

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However, Trump had earlier tried to justify the use of the term “Chinese Virus” saying it originated from China and have been frequently blaming the Asian nation for hiding the facts about the deadly virus. He also boasted about the early travel ban on China and accused media houses of terming the pro-activeness as a racist act. Speaking to the reporters at the White House, Trump said that had he let “these tens of thousands of people” come in from China, the deaths would have been much more than the current toll.

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Criticised for stigmatising community

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio had lashed out at Trump for stigmatising a race and particular community saying the US President doesn’t need to incite a backlash against the already suffering Asian-American communities.

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