The Washington State Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs (CAPAA) rejects the use of terms "Chinese virus", "Wuhan virus" and "kung flu" to refer to COVID-19. This “otherization” of people of Asian ancestry only drives us further apart as a society and is counter-productive to promoting health and safety of our society. Today, in Washington and nationwide, reports of hate crimes targeting Asian people are on the rise. In their best practices for naming diseases, the World Health Organization explicitly warns against naming diseases after locations, cognizant of the bigotry that could provoke. Viruses are not ethnic-specific, and people of Asian descent are no more likely than anyone else to carry [...]

Co-authored by Washington Secretary of Health John Wiesman and Washington State Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs Executive Director Toshiko Hasegawa. The original post is available here.  Our world is tied more closely together today than at any point in human history. We are richer for it, especially in Washington state. We thrive and prosper on our international connections, trade, and travel. These connections can present modern day challenges, such as communicable diseases, that know no boundaries. On January 21, the Washington Department of Health (DOH) reported the first confirmed case in the U.S. of novel coronavirus. Public health officials from local, state, and federal agencies took swift action to speak [...]