Impact of the Coronavirus and Self-Isolation

[JohannesB]

This thing is far from over. Just wait for this new Wuhan virus that seems to have 33% mortality rate. According to a lab in Wuhan, that is. From what I have heard, it has not yet mutated to be able to use humans as hosts, though, but one mutation seems to be enough. Let's hope China does not frak up again and is completely open about all of this, and let scientists from other countries immediately have full access to the data. There is always a way to fight diseases, but it goes so much faster if scientists all over the world cooperate towards a common goal: the truth and a cure.

[Libraraptor]

@JohannesB  Please stop calling the Corona virus the "Wuhan virus".
We do not want,   do not tolerante and disprize subliminally or openly xenophobic posts here. Thank you.

[stargatedalek]

We should be avoiding the use of dangerous rhetoric and xenophobic dog whistles like that employed by the alt-right, the same people fighting against life saving protective measures and vaccines.

[Primeval12]

Agreed, calling it that spreads xenophobia, be it intentional or not.

[suspsy]

I'm half Asian and it really angers me whenever someone intentionally uses that derogatory term. There are also full Asians who frequent this forum, including ones from China.

[Flaffy]

Genuine question, how is the term "Wuhan virus" any different from all the diseases named after geographic locations shown below?

[suspsy]

Genuine question, how is the term "Wuhan virus" any different from all the diseases named after geographic locations shown below?

Because there's no actual evidence that COVID-19 originated in Wuhan. And because unlike the examples in that chart, it is clearly being employed by far too many individuals in a derogatory and racist fashion. Same goes for the even worse "China virus." There's no excuse whatsoever for anybody to use those phrases.

https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/9/e003746

And that is the last word I have on this topic. From now on, I'm just going to report any future uses of those terms here and request that the individual be reprimanded as seen fit.

[Psittacoraptor]

Genuine question, how is the term "Wuhan virus" any different from all the diseases named after geographic locations shown below?

This question is either painfully disingenuous or ignorant. Were those terms politicized, and followed by an increase in anti-Asian sentiment, racism and hate crimes?

[Patrx]

I feel like there's a lot to moderate here, but for now, let's please refocus the conversation onto the impact of the pandemic — how it affects us as people and as collectors.
And do not continue to use "Wuhan virus" or "China virus," for many reasons. Not the least of which is that people here have specifically said they don't want to hear those names.
Thanks. 

[Dusty Wren]

The virus's name is SARS-CoV-2. The disease it causes is COVID-19, the family of viruses it belongs to are the coronaviruses. You have plenty of accepted names to use when talking about it.

Choosing to use that term is a dead giveaway that you're getting your information from sources that are more interested in spreading racist and xenophobic rhetoric than discussing actual science.

[stargatedalek]

Choosing to use that term is a dead giveaway that you're getting your information from sources that are more interested in spreading racist and xenophobic rhetoric than discussing actual science.

This part in particular is often overlooked. People who call it that are the same people who refuse to wear masks, or hold big riots trying to fight against vaccines.

[Flaffy]

Genuine question, how is the term "Wuhan virus" any different from all the diseases named after geographic locations shown below?

This question is either painfully disingenuous or ignorant. Were those terms politicized, and followed by an increase in anti-Asian sentiment, racism and hate crimes?

I get that there are blatantly racist terms like "kung-flu" and "chinese-virus", which specifically targets individuals of Asian descent. But I don't understand how the specific term "Wuhan-virus" got politicized when it only designates it's perceived location of origin. I'm from Hong Kong, and chinese, and the term 武汉肺炎 (directly translates to Wuhan pneumonia) was not uncommon when the virus first spread in the city all the way back in late 2019. A similar example would be "Hong Kong Foot", an outdated term that originates back during colonialism that refers to the athlete's foot disease, but is still widely used in the city itself to this day.

Would definitely be interested to hear the perspective from mainland Chinese members.

As for anti-Asian sentiment, racism and hate crimes, I believe racist individuals would've committed to their bigoted beliefs, regardless of what the virus was called in the first place. Likewise, anti-African sentiments were not uncommon when EVD spread to the west.

I think the way going forward is to simply not have common or scientific names for diseases after their location of origin. Referring to COVID-19 as it is would be the first step in that direction as to not afford racists any excuse to target any demographic based on the name of a disease.

[Halichoeres]

It was historically common to name viral diseases after places but since 2015 health officials have discontinued the practice specifically because it led to stigma and xenophobia (https://www.who.int/news/item/08-05-2015-who-issues-best-practices-for-naming-new-human-infectious-diseases). Ebola was famously named after a different, less populated place than the one where it was first seen because a doctor wanted to avoid causing problems for the inhabitants.

[Dusty Wren]

@Flaffy, to answer your question: Bigots have figured out that if they use a term that is obviously racist/sexist/homophobic/transphobic/etc., people will call them out on it. The tactic now is to use terms that give them plausible deniability if they find themselves among people who won't tolerate their BS. In this case, the defense is, "But I'm just describing where the virus came from, that's not racist!" (Spoiler warning: they're not, and it is).

That's what @stargatedalek meant by "dog whistle"; weaponizing language so that only the people who agree with you will know what you mean, and you can get away with saying bigoted stuff.

I think the way going forward is to simply not have common or scientific names for diseases after their location of origin. Referring to COVID-19 as it is would be the first step in that direction as to not afford racists any excuse to target any demographic based on the name of a disease.

Exactly. This has been discussed in medical communication circles for a while now, and there's a real push to be careful with how people talk about epidemiology. Language has power.

[Psittacoraptor]

I get that there are blatantly racist terms like "kung-flu" and "chinese-virus", which specifically targets individuals of Asian descent. But I don't understand how the specific term "Wuhan-virus" got politicized when it only designates it's perceived location of origin. I'm from Hong Kong, and chinese, and the term 武汉肺炎 (directly translates to Wuhan pneumonia) was not uncommon when the virus first spread in the city all the way back in late 2019. Would definitely be interested to hear the perspective from mainland Chinese members.

As for anti-Asian sentiment, racism and hate crimes, I believe racist individuals would've committed to their bigoted beliefs, regardless of what the virus was called in the first place. Likewise, anti-African sentiments were not uncommon when EVD spread to the west.

I think the way going forward is to simply not have common or scientific names for diseases after their location of origin. Referring to COVID-19 as it is would be the first step in that direction as to not afford racists any excuse to target any demographic based on the name of a disease.

I apologize for my harsh tone, I can't help but suspect that I'm dealing with a xenophobe when I see/hear those words being used or their usage defended, because I have never, not once, come across "China virus" or "Wuhan virus" outside blatantly xenophobic contexts. How words are used can differ heavily between countries or communities. Perhaps you were simply lucky enough to not have had to interact with (Western) people who use terms like "China virus" or "Wuhan virus". Names like Lyme disease are not comparable because they are semi-"official" and used by trustworthy publications. You won't find a trustworthy source using China or Wuhan virus. Those words are the very opposite of neutral in Western countries, they're a giveaway for xenophobic or plain racist sentiment.

Edit: explained better and in less words above

[Dusty Wren]

Thanks, @Psittacoraptor. You brought up a really good point. Because hate groups employ this "plausible deniability" tactic so often, it can be really hard to tell who is pretending they don't know what they're saying, and who is genuinely asking why a term is so harmful.

If someone asks about one of these code phrases in good faith and they receive forceful pushback from a community that is exhausted and frustrated from dealing with bigoted code words all the time, the person may walk away from that interaction feeling attacked and defensive.

Then the bigots all high-five one another, because that's what they were hoping would happen; it's one of the benefits of using coded language like this. When you make the other side look unreasonable or overly sensitive, people are less likely to take them seriously when they bring up real concerns about racism, sexism, and other issues. It's an insidious discrediting tactic that is hard to fight back against, especially on social media, where nuanced discussions about language don't get many retweets.

[Faras]

Would definitely be interested to hear the perspective from mainland Chinese members.

iirc 武汉肺炎 (Wuhan pneumonia) was domestically used in first few weeks, then banned in mainland for spreading regional discrimination. I don't recall seeing 武汉病毒 (Wuhan virus) before international hate wars. Saying "place name + disease" also comes far more natural than "place name + pathogen" as Chinese, so the term "Wuhan virus" was probably created by western world. Both terms are predominantly used to express hatred, though "Wuhan virus" has stronger link to racism.

Anyways good that WHO discontinued this practice, otherwise we might end up with governments hiding disease outbreaks to avoid stigma.

[Duna]

Thanks today terms like "Spanish flu" would never have been used. And in that case, it didn't even originate in Spain, but it was thanks to Spanish media that talked openly without censure (on the contrary of what other European countries did), it was nicknamed like that. I prefer to call it "The 1918 flu", as in Spain it was simply called "epidemic flu", the world's deadliest pandemic in History.


In my case, the virus has finally get into my house ... Having worked at the ICU with COVID patients for 2 years, and I have escaped to it until one of my 5 year old daughters got it at school and like a Troyan horse, my husband and I have got it.
Be aware that very young children are mostly asymptomatic, so I wouldn't have ever suspect my daughter was positive, because she was well (she had been worse with regular colds). I was just at home (no symptoms, either) and I started feeling very cold in the evening, like I was freezing, and in an hour, the fever rised. I did a home test and it came positive (very positive), and I got all my family tested as well, and that's when I discovered my daughter was, too. The other one (they are twins) was negative. My husband tested negative, and as vaccinated people like my husband doesn't have to keep quarantine, so he went to my parents' holiday apartment to be on his own, but in two days he came positive as well so he has returned.
In my children's classroom at school some children don't wear the mask in the class because they parents tell them to do so, so the virus is free to spread as it wants. It's obligatory from 6 years on, but my girls wear it all time at school since 2020, they don't have any problem with that because they are well informed and know which is the correct thing. But they have to take it out to eat lunch and drink and teachers don't insist at all in the correct distance between them while doing so.


So just remember vaccination doesn't make you inmune to catching it (yes, we all know that, but some anti-vaccines don't) but it keeps you away for ending in the ICU. I was given 3 shots, I never go to restaurants, coffee shops or pubs (I never used to go before the pandemic), I use an FFP2 mask ALL TIMES in my town and I only relate without mask with my own family.
All my family are vaccinated as well (my 5 year old girls only had the first dose), and without any problems at all. But the Troyan horse got into my family and it spread to all of us (but one of the girls). I have the experience of some friends not to having caught it although the rest of family members were positive, so it could be also the case with her.

Thanks to that I only had fever that night and on the following morning I was feeling perfect. My husband has mild symptoms but fewer than the cold he had on December.
I highly suggest you do a home test from time to time because hadn't it been for the fever, I wouldn't have ever thought I was positive. I wouldn't have even tested, as I had no other symptoms.

[Faelrin]

@Duna Sorry to hear your family has caught it now. I am glad you are feeling better, as are the rest of your family. Your initial symptoms were similar to mine. Only I had it before I could be vaccinated so it was a bumpy road for a few months (mainly from the chronic fatigue). Anyways I hope you all will be fine from here.

[Duna]

Thank you @Faelrin and I hope you can recover completely.