New Delhi, March 19 (IANS): Since the outbreak of novel coronavirus was reported from Wuhan, the Chinese people reportedly faced lot of anger and violence in public places in various countries.

Showing his concern at this example of xenophobia, Indian Medical Association President Dr. Rajan Sharma told IANS that people should stop calling the dreaded virus as the 'Chinese or Wuhan virus'.

"First of all, it is wrong to call a virus with the name of a city or a country as per the WHO guidelines. It has been named as Covid-19. It started from China but after Italy's incidents, doubts are being raised.

"The data that has been collected so far is being analysed. We are heading towards vaccination so that we can cure the disease. But it is wrong to say that it started from Wuhan. It was rather reported from Wuhan. It (China) prepared the whole world to deal with it."

"It started spreading outside China, in Japan and South Korea through the 'Diamond Princess' cruise ship, given that these are tourist destinations near China."

He also said that "the origin of coronavirus (old ones) is bat and snake meat and it is spread is through droplets."

Hailing the efforts of the Indian government, Sharma said that it "has taken a good and steady approach in containing the disease. It is highly appreciable that they have taken measures step by step to lessen the crowd, even imposed Section 144 at various places. I have seen the preparation at the ground level. We are fully prepared to deal with the situations. We are ready to partner with the government in all their initiatives to combat the disease".