The world is suffering under a pandemic, and here in the United States New York has been the hardest hit, with 27,169 Coronavirus deaths as of May 12. Jobs lost, economic woes, and social-distancing frustration are only a few of the issues the crisis has caused, but New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has found time to rename COVID-19 as the “European virus.”
The Democratic governor, a media darling, repeatedly referenced the “European virus” during his near-daily briefings, but so far there have been no outcries from the left of racism toward or injustice to the European people. Why not? It’s still a place designation that encompasses nations of people. Didn’t liberals tear out their hair when President Donald Trump called it the China or Chinese virus? Cuomo claims his reference is based on the fact that the contagion was brought to his state from Europe in January when “no one knew” about it. Of course, he blames the federal government for New York having the highest number of cases and deaths. The Empire State governor suggested:
“With all the sophistication, with all the public health organizations, with that whole alphabet soup of agencies, nobody knew the virus was coming from Europe.”
This theory is based on an unnamed study that suggests New Yorkers may have contracted the disease from travelers from Italy, not China. According to reports, this has not been proven. But we’ll get to that in a moment. Liberty Nation published a detailed timeline from the first reported case until the World Health Organization finally declared a pandemic. Does Cuomo’s theory hold up?
- Dec. 16, 2019: The first patient arrived at Wuhan Central Hospital in China (although the South China Post claims document proof of a case as far back as Nov. 17).
- Jan. 21, 2020: Italy bans travel to China and declares a national emergency after two suspected cases.
- Feb. 20: A man in Lombardy, Italy, tests positive, the first confirmed case in the country.
- March 1: New York State records its first positive case of COVID-19.
So with that timeline, it’s hard to equate the governor’s remarks with the facts. COVID-19, from all documented evidence, first appeared in Wuhan, China, in mid-December, at least two months before Italy confirmed a patient with the virus. And how about this kicker? New York’s first case was confirmed March 1, a woman who had just traveled from Iran, a Middle Eastern country, not European.
Although the left loves to lavish Cuomo with praise for a job well done, he’s made his fair share of mistakes since the outbreak. When the first case had been confirmed, he said that “there will be community spread” but that “there’s no reason for concern.”
It didn’t help the governor’s cause any when New York Mayor Bill de Blasio went around saying, “It’s important, just go about your lives, continue living as you have,” and “This should not stop you from going about your life. It should not stop you from going to Chinatown and going out to eat.” In fact, as recently as March 13, nearly two weeks after the state’s first recorded case, de Blasio said, “We want people still to go on about their lives.”
Cuomo, one of the most outspoken governors during the crisis who made many demands on the Trump administration, recently took some heat because his executive order mandated that nursing homes must accept Coronavirus patients. This, officials estimate, led to around 1,700 more deaths, adding to the total of about 5,000 of vulnerable senior citizens. This information broke the surface after he tweeted: “Government competence can be the difference between life and death.”
It also didn’t help that the governor showed little sympathy or understanding for constituents who lost work due to the lockdown, telling them to get a job in a field deemed “essential” by the government.
Shakespeare’s Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Act 2 Scene 2, posed the thought: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.” Couldn’t the same be applied to the Coronavirus, whether it’s the China, Wuhan, or Chinese virus? The pathogen doesn’t care what humans call it; it will still be just as deadly and contagious. But in today’s absolute PC culture, people are triggered by the slightest thing, at least if the offensive words come from the right side of the aisle. How many times has President Donald Trump been lambasted and labeled a racist for titling the virus from the country where it originated? And why is renaming a virus of such importance to a governor who is battling the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the country?
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Read more from Kelli Ballard.
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