Trump’s latest: Terms China virus ‘Kung flu’

Washington, June 21: US President Donald Trump has once again blamed China for the global spread of the deadly Covid-19 which has killed over 467,000 people and infected more than 8.9 million others, terming the disease as “Kung flu”. Trump has repeatedly blamed China for the Covid-19 pandemic which originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year and accused Beijing of suppressing the details of the contagion.

The Trump administration officials have described it as Wuhan virus due to its origin. Trump, addressing his first election rally on Saturday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in the US early this year, said that the Covid-19 is a disease and has many names than any disease in history. “I can name — Kung flu. I can name 19 different versions of names. Many calls it a virus, which it is. Many calls it a flu. What difference. I think we have 19 or 20 versions of the name,” Trump said. Kung fu refers to the Chinese martial arts in which people use only their

bare hands and feet to fight. The US is the worst affected country with over 2.3 million cases and more than 1,22,000 deaths.

The Covid-19 has also battered the world economy with the International Monetary Fund saying that the global economy is bound to suffer a “severe recession”. Scientists are racing against time to find a vaccine or medicine for its treatment. Trump, 74, is seeking re-election in the November presidential elections against former vice president Joe Biden, 77, who is the Democratic Party’s candidate. PTI