As the world jointly fights the COVID-19 outbreak, some US politicians are engrossed in a battle to spread "political virus."

According to the Daily Beast, Washington is launching a communications plan across multiple federal agencies that focuses on accusing China of orchestrating a “cover-up” and creating a global pandemic. 

By repeatedly calling the coronavirus “the Chinese virus", Washington's attempts to attack Beijing to divert accusations on its poor and unprepared anti-disease response have failed, as the US government is now burned by outbreaks of both the virus and the criticism on the governing.

It's widely acknowledged that China’s effective joint prevention and control has won precious time for the world. Two months ago, the US President expressed optimism over China’s response and praised China for its handling of the outbreak.

“China has been working very hard to contain the coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency,” US President Donald Trump tweeted on January 25.

Apparently, the public also doesn’t buy Washington's confusing attitude. The US media has listed various problems of the administration, including three weeks' delay to solve inconclusive test kits, passing the buck among different agencies, government's downplaying of the pandemic, the shortage of expensive testing for the public, among others. 

Instead of fixing the mistakes, Washington spreads fear of a foreign threat to distract attention. As said by the New York Times on March 20 in an opinion piece, the US government is trying to "distract you from their catastrophic failure.” 

As WHO emphasized, the dangers of vilifying another country and people are greater than the virus itself. Some US politicians should discard prejudice, isolate from “political virus”, take responsibility and actively join in the global efforts against the global health crisis. It’s never too late to fix the mistakes and follow the right path.