With coronavirus ravaging the world, people are attempting to make light of the situation by renaming it “Kung Flu”.
The name is racist towards the most affected country of China and its citizens and is trending on Twitter.
Ironically, authorities in China reported the fewest number of new cases of coronavirus since infections started being tracked in January. However, the epidemic is continuing to spread around the world and now its affecting global stock markets.
According to China’s National Health Commission, the country has detected 40 new cases of the virus in the past 24 hours. This is down from 44 new cases the previous day. China now has 80,735 total cases, among which 19,016 remain in treatment and 58,600 have been released.
More than 3,000 have died.
Global Panic
Over the weekend, an exclusion zone in northern Italy came into effect as the number of cases there jumped to 7,375. Italy is the worst-hit nation in Europe. The Italian government is shutting down its museums, which include access to the Sistine Chapel, until April 3. Italy’s quarantine order locks down 16 million people – a quarter of its population – across a large swath of its territory in the north close to Milan.
France is banning events of more than 1,000 people to limit the spread of the coronavirus. The country reported 1,126 cases as of Sunday, up 19% from the day before. So far, 19 people in France have died.
Congratulations, America! With the trending of "Wuhan virus" and "Kung flu", you have upgraded your racism, which is the worse human disease in the heart of hate.
— Anderson Huu
(@AndersonHuu) March 9, 2020
SXSW also officially canceled its tech and music conference slated for March 13th to 22nd. Austin, Texas Mayor Steve Adler announced it and it is the first time in over 30 years the event hasn’t gone on.
Coronavirus has the world shaken up but that is not an excuse for racist behavior. As fear and panic grips the world everyone should come together for support during these trying times.