A senior World Health Organization, or WHO, official has warned against using terms linking the novel coronavirus with ethnicity after United States President Donald Trump repeatedly used the phrase "Chinese virus" in speeches and tweets in the past few days.Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO's Health Emergencies Program, told a news conference on Wednesday that the WHO has stressed since the beginning of the outbreak that the virus knows no borders and does not care about ethnicity, skin color or how rich people are."It's really important that we be careful in the language we use, lest it leads to profiling of individuals associated with the virus," he said. "This is just something we all need to avoid."He cited the fact that the influenza outbreak of 2009 originated in North America. "We didn't call it North America flu," he said, "so it's very important that we have the same approach when it comes to other viruses," adding that the world needs to avoid any indication of ethnic or other association with this virus.He emphasized what the world needs now is solidarity and working together.At the media briefing, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus continued to urge countries to adopt a comprehensive approach in fighting the spread of COVID-19 as governments from Europe to North America ramp up measures.So far during the pandemic, more than 200,000 cases have been reported to the WHO and more than 8,000 people have lost their lives. More than 80 percent of all cases are from two regions of the West Pacific and Europe, the WHO revealed."We know that many countries now face escalating epidemics and are feeling overwhelmed," Tedros said.Every day, he continued, the WHO is talking to ministers of health, heads of state, health workers, hospital managers, industry leaders and CEOs to help them prepare and prioritize according to their specific situation.He said the WHO continues to recommend that isolating, testing and treating every suspected case, and tracing every contact, must be the backbone of the response in every country."This is the best hope of preventing widespread community transmission," Tedros said. "WHO continues to call on all countries to implement a comprehensive approach, with the aim of slowing down transmission and flattening the curve."Click here for audio and translation of the story
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