Why is it socially acceptable to say “British variant” but not “Chinese coronavirus”? Just saying, seems like a bit of a double standard
@rlamacraft That is a good question. I think it is mostly that people tend to blame the Chinese for this by calling it the Chinavirus or Chinese coronavirus. Asians or Asian-looking people have been assaulted at the start of the pandemic for this. Not sure if that's still the case, probably is. There's still a squabble about the origin of the virus.
The British variant is a variation of an existing virus, so that would seem to be a subtle difference there.
I still blame the Brits, of course. 😋
@trinsec Oi! 🙄😒 But, that’s a fair point about the racist fallout for Asian people living in the West — I’m not advocating for calling it the “China virus” I’m just saying we should be consistent. Seems like the “British variant” is falling for the same problem as “Spanish flu”: the NHS is testing and reporting on variants whereas other places aren’t… *grumble grumble grumble*
@rlamacraft Well, we check for the UK and South-African variants here. And I think we check for mutations as well. Maybe it just so happens that the UK and SA areas have a real mutation going on that actually made a difference (easier to spread in this case)?