G7 statement canceled: US wants to call it the Wuhan virus

https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/streit-um-wuhan-virus-a-6bb570bb-9f2b-4cd1-a895-fdeabf53f6b4

by payne • 6 years ago

42 32 6 years ago

maccam9122• 6 years ago

I understand "coronavirus" isn't specific, but why not just use that? Nobody this year will be confused what is being talked about. And if another coronavirus comes around, it will end up with a different commonly used name. Hearing "Chinese virus" the first time made me think first of a computer virus, then some brand new virus I wasn't aware of, and then finally realizing it was another term for the coronavirus.

AlexandrB• 6 years ago

Nobody this year will be confused what is being talked about.

You'd be surprised. My relatives sent me a conspiracy theory video based on the fact that Lysol wipes manufactured in fall 2019 claim they kill "Coronavirus". So obviously the global conspiracy knew of the virus in advance!

klodolph• 6 years ago

The fact that it’s not specific enough really is a problem. We can call it COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2, but that kind of precision is inconvenient.

maccam9122• 6 years ago

Fair. COVID-19 would also work for me. That's used enough that people know immediately what you're talking about.

prophesi2• 6 years ago

The best of both worlds would be to come up with a precise, "inconvenient" name, then create an acronym from it.

alistairSH• 6 years ago

Or, better yet, call it COVID-19. Slightly more specific than just coronavirus. Yes, COVID is the disease, not the organism, but for most common uses in everyday speech, that's probably ok.

ilamont• 6 years ago

I looked for an English version of this news without luck. Anyone have another source?

hyko• 6 years ago

The correct name for virus is SARS-CoV-2. The resultant disease it causes in humans is named COVID-19. Simple.

Anyone is free to make up whatever names they like, and the rest of the world is free to ignore them and use the correct names.

bdamm• 6 years ago

Is it SARS-CoV-2 or is it 2019-nCoV? Seems to depend on the context.

detaro• 6 years ago

Apparently, 2019-nCoV was the earlier label, until they decided to classify it more precisely as a SARS-type: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-020-0695-z

tingletech• 6 years ago

I think 2019-nCoV is an older synonym, and now that the lineage has been established SARS-CoV-2 is preferred (and and -1 got added to the older one that used to just be SARS-CoV)

rococode• 6 years ago

2019-nCoV was the provisional name, SARS-CoV-2 is the current official name of the virus.

erentz• 6 years ago

SARS-CoV-2 is a bit overwrought. A semi official short version would be helpful.

SARS was easy.

SARS2 seems okay.

CV19 is easy enough.

So on. Officials should pick something that’s shorter and easier (but still specific) as the informal name.

opless• 6 years ago

SARS2 seems to be a rational name

benjohnson• 6 years ago

I can understand the desire to not want to stigmatize the people of China and people of Chinese decent.

But we should not let the Chinese leadership off the hook for continuing the disgusting Wet Markets.

Let's meet half-way and give it a short pronounceable name:

Call it the PROCVirus - named after the government of the People's Republic of China.

tomp• 6 years ago

What the article doesn't say, is that China too is desperately blaming other countries for the virus; not just the US, but also Italy.

jpalomaki• 6 years ago

Naming virused by places creates incentive to keep things hidden as long as possible - hoping that it will become public in some other place first.

Kye• 6 years ago

That's how "Spanish Flu" happened when the first detection was in Kansas.

TheAdamAndChe2• 6 years ago

The US calling it The China Virus et al is in response to Chinese officials blaming the virus on American troops. It's all just politics, not racism.

That said, I'm not sure it's a good discussion to have on this site..

threatofrain• 6 years ago

It's all just politics, not racism.

It's going to end up as both, because in public speaking, we don't control our meaning -- the people do. The branding power of the "Chinese Virus" is going to reach Asians across America.

TheAdamAndChe2• 6 years ago

Then how should higher-level geopolitics and popular sentiment modification be carried out better? China is undoubtedly leveraging every bit of power they have to sow popular opinion against the US. How can the US counter that without bringing claims of racism?

Edit: removed snark

zebnyc• 6 years ago

My wife is part of a Mom's group based in the bay area. One of the mom's in that group (who happens to be Taiwanese), wrote a post about how she was a victim of statements along the lines of a) "It is funny you want to practice social distance when it is you folks who brought the virus here" b) "How dare you show your face here during this time..."

And this was by the folks working at the checkout counter (with passive support from other shoppers there). IMHO calling it Chinese / Wuhan virus opens the gate to these kind of hate crimes to become common place.

My wife, who is Asian, is terrified to go shopping.

meowface• 6 years ago

My friend who is Asian (not Chinese) says she and her family are experiencing similar treatment. They get stared at harshly everywhere they go, which never happened before this crisis. They also don't want to go out anymore to get necessities because of this.

lostmsu• 6 years ago

To be fair "getting stared harshly" may be them dreaming that up.

Ghjklov• 6 years ago

When I leave the home, my mom has to tell me to be careful since if bad people mistake me for Chinese they may beat me up.

Note: I live in SoCal

Sad times.

david38• 6 years ago

I likely live very close to you.

She should walk around with the video recorder on on her cell.

At least the Bay Area is pretty peaceful. It’s highly unlikely she’ll get physically assaulted.

Most famous diseases are names thus * Spanish flu * Ebola

Maybe there is a change in behavior with the name, but I suspect those people are taking advantage of the situation to express what they’ve always wanted to.

scotty79• 6 years ago

China should decide the name since they discovered it.

G7 statement canceled: US wants to call it the Wuhan virus

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