Following the rapid spread of the coronavirus around the globe, US President Donald Trump declared a national emergency on Saturday.

Interestingly, Trump has long continued to insist he is “doing a great job in handling coronavirus” despite the fact the outbreak is having a major impact on cities across the United States. There are confirmed cases in 35 states and California’s first coronavirus-related death occurred on March 1. Local emergencies relating to the coronavirus have been declared in eight counties. The number of confirmed cases in the US as of Sunday was 2,836; the total number of deaths was 57. Figures suggest the epidemic is spreading fast in the US.

In early March, Trump told reporters at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta that “anybody who wants a test gets a (coronavirus) test”. And during a CNN interview, referring to the timing of a potential vaccine, Trump said “three to four months in a couple of cases, a year in other cases”. The head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the US, Anthony Fauci, immediately contradicted him! A vaccine will take much longer time to be ready for testing!

Interestingly, Trump has long continued to insist he is “doing a great job in handling coronavirus” despite the fact the outbreak is having a major impact on cities across the United States

On March 8, writing on his Twitter account, Trump declared that, “we have a perfectly coordinated and fine-tuned plan at the White House for our attack on the coronavirus”. This observation contradicted the fact that confirmed infections in the US soared to more than 500 on that day even when testing was only being carried out in very small scale. In any event, the plunge in the US stock market on the same day is indicative of the current market sentiment amid the spread of the virus in the US.

The coronavirus infection on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship gave the Japanese government an unmistakable warning that this was a serious public health crisis. The infection on the US Grand Princess cruise ship should therefore have put the US government on full alert. Among its 3,533 passengers, 21 confirmed infections have been located and only 45 people have been tested. To exacerbate the situation, the Grand Princess was on her two-week journey from California to Hawaii. On Feb 21, some 2,500 passengers who received no medical attention departed San Francisco to Hawaii. It transpired that a California man who had traveled on the cruise ship contracted the coronavirus and died from the disease.

Much to everybody’s surprise, the US media got hold of the stick at the wrong end and turned this global health crisis into a racist attack on the Chinese. On Feb 3, The Wall Street Journal published an opinion article with a derogatory title: “China is the Real Sick Man of Asia”. Worse still, on March 2, the Fox News personality Jesse Watters invoked racist tropes about China and demanded that China formally apologize for the novel coronavirus, by making allegations such as “very hungry Chinese are eating raw bats and snakes. The communist government of China cannot feed the people, and desperate Chinese eat uncooked food and that is why scientists believe China is the place where the coronavirus originated”. Jesse Watters’ ignorance of China and his intention to spread malicious rumors are clearly self-evident.

Zhong Nanshan, who is the leader of the National Health Commission’s task force on the epidemic, said the coronavirus is a new disease endangering the entire human race: it is not a disease from China. The epidemic was first reported in China, it did not necessarily originate in China.

In fact, the scientific origin tracing of the COVID-19 virus is still underway so far there is no hard scientific evidence that the virus originated in Wuhan and not in other parts in the world.

The US has been overzealous in blaming China. On March 5, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo used the term “Wuhan virus” to categorically associate the new COVID-19 virus with Wuhan. This contradicts the fact that on Feb 11 the World Health Organization in Geneva named the novel disease caused by the new coronavirus COVID-19. Researchers repeatedly called for an official name to avoid confusion and stigmatization of any group or country. On March 10, the Foreign Ministry of China raised objections to the expression “Wuhan coronavirus”. Pompeo used the opportunity to stigmatize China. His actions are despicable.

As the COVID-19 epidemic unfolds in the US, we look forward to the US government making more resources available to contain the virus.

The author is a barrister-at-law, and vice-chairman of Hong Kong Legal Exchange Foundation. 

The views don’t necessarily reflect those of China Daily.