A goal of calling Covid19 the “Chinese Virus” is to create a cultural war over that language to distract us from the real story: America’s lack of preparedness. One of the outcomes of that strategy is bigotry. “As the coronavirus upends American life, Chinese-Americans face a double threat. Not only are they grappling like everyone else with how to avoid the virus itself, they are also contending with growing racism in the form of verbal and physical attacks. Other Asian-Americans — with families from Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines, Myanmar and other places — are facing threats, too, lumped together with Chinese-Americans by a bigotry that does not know the difference.” NYT: Spit On, Yelled At, Attacked: Chinese-Americans Fear for Their Safety.

+ Reuters: “Several months before the coronavirus pandemic began, the Trump administration eliminated a key American public health position in Beijing intended to help detect disease outbreaks in China.”

+ For a little perspective, it’s worth noting that the Spanish Flu of 1918 did not originate in Spain. It came from somewhere in North America, possibly Kansas. (Nothing is new in this world; least of all political, messaging strategies.)