Sec. 305. Sense of Congress on using a scientific term for COVID–19
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/bill/116/s/3669/is/section-305·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Congress makes the following findings: On February 11, 2020, the World Health Organization announced the scientific name of the disease caused by the novel SARS–CoV–2 that emerged in 2019: COVID–19. The World Health Organization recommends the use of scientific names for new human infectious diseases in order to prevent stigma and discrimination against any specific ethnic or racial groups. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises addressing COVID–19 in ways that reduce and avoid stigma and discrimination.
Some United States Government officials continue to refer to COVID–19 as the Wuhan virus , Chinese virus , Kung Flu , or cognates, rather than the World Health Organization-recommended scientific term. The Federal Bureau of Investigation warned that hate crime incidents against Asian Americans would likely surge as a result of the spread of COVID–19, and, researchers have reported an alarming spike in anti-Asian racism in the United States since the COVID–19 outbreak began. Other countries, including Ethiopia, the United Kingdom, and Australia, have reported increased levels of harassment and assault directly connected to stigmatization of the virus.
International cooperation is essential to address this pandemic, and the United States insistence on using alternate terms to refer to COVID–19 has hampered international efforts, including among the Group of 7, to address this crisis. It is the sense of Congress that the United States and all of its officers and employees should consistently use the World Health Organization-recommended term COVID–19 in domestic and international contexts.