Students wearing face masks arrive on the Gila Ridge High School campus in Yuma, Arizona, on Sept 17, 2020. (RANDY HOEFT / THE YUMA SUN VIA AP)

WASHINGTON - The US government has failed to shift blame away from itself for its failure in handling the COVID-19 pandemic by calling the novel coronavirus "Chinese virus," the Washington Post reported citing its own survey.

"Surprisingly, the use of the term 'Chinese virus' prompted more respondents to blame Trump for the pandemic," according to a report by the Washington Post citing its own survey

The survey, covering a sample of 1,500 US residents, was conducted in late June, shortly after the United States reported 2.5 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and 120,000 deaths, according to the report.

The respondents were asked to read a brief description of the pandemic. Some read a version in which the coronavirus was called "COVID-19," while for others, it was called the "Chinese virus."

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"Surprisingly, the use of the term 'Chinese virus' prompted more respondents to blame Trump for the pandemic," according to the report.

Those exposed to the phrase "Chinese virus" were more likely to echo the blame that the current US administration failed to take the pandemic seriously enough, according to the survey.

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The survey also showed that even conservatives responded to the phrase "Chinese virus" by blaming the US administration more often.

By using "Chinese virus," the US President Donald Trump tries to avoid blame for the pandemic by redirecting anger toward China, according to the report.

However, it failed to shift blame away from itself, according to the survey.