New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo referred to the coronavirus as the “European virus.”
During a press conference Monday, the Democratic governor addressed how coronavirus cases in the state are on a downward trajectory before labeling the virus as having originated in Europe rather than China.
“New York, the cases are now on the decline. You look at the rest of the nation outside of New York, the cases are still on the incline. We took the worst situation in the nation and changed the trajectory. So, now we are on the decline. The rest of the nation, the cases are still on the incline. That is because of what the people in this state did,” he said.
“If you had said when we started this, yes we have more cases than anyone else, yes we had this European virus attack us and nobody expected it, but we are not only going to change our trajectory, we’re going to change the trajectory more dramatically than anyplace else in the nation,” he added.
Cuomo’s comments come after reports that 3 million people traveled from Europe to New York before travel bans were implemented, which spread the virus to East Coast states.
“We had people in the airports stopping people from China, testing people from China, the federal government did a lot of testing, a lot of screening, people getting off planes, from China,” Cuomo said during a press last week, addressing President Trump’s Jan. 31 ban on foreign nationals who had been in China. “But meanwhile, the people from Europe were walking right past them.”
Trump said earlier this year he would move away from using the phrase “Chinese virus” after receiving pushback over claims it was racially insensitive.
“It came from China. … I don’t regret it,” he said. “Everyone knows it came out of China, but I decided we shouldn’t make any more of a big deal out of it. I think I made a big deal. I think people understand it.”
He also condemned people blaming Asian Americans for the pandemic at its onset, tweeting in March: “It is very important that we totally protect our Asian American community in the United States, and all around the world. They are amazing people, and the spreading of the Virus is NOT their fault in any way, shape, or form. They are working closely with us to get rid of it. WE WILL PREVAIL TOGETHER!”
