Donald Trump labels coronavirus the 'Plague from China'

Donald Trump has once again blamed China for coronavirus, referring to it as "the Plague from China".

The US president has been highly critical of China’s response to Covid-19, claiming Chinese authorities were too slow to act and even claiming that the respiratory disease originated from a laboratory in the country.

In a tweet published on Wednesday, Mr Trump said: “As I have said for a long time, dealing with China is a very expensive thing to do.

“We just made a great Trade Deal, the ink was barely dry, and the World was hit by the Plague from China. 100 Trade Deals wouldn’t make up the difference - and all those innocent lives lost!”

Critics of Mr Trump have accused him of racism for labelling Covid-19 the “China Flu” or the "Wuhan virus".

Coronavirus is thought to have first emerged at an illegal wildlife market in the city of Wuhan in Hubei province in China.

The US has recorded more than 1.4 million confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 83,000 deaths.

Globally, more than 293,000 people have died after testing positive for coronavirus, and more than four million have been infected with it.

Earlier this week, Mr Trump was also in hot water for telling a Chinese-American reporter to “ask China” about the disease.

At Tuesday’s daily White House press briefing, CBS reporter Weijia Jiang asked: "You've said many times that the US is doing far better than any other country when it comes to testing.

"Why does that matter?

"Why is this a global competition to you when every day Americans are losing their lives and we're still seeing more cases, every day?"

Mr Trump responded: "They're losing their lives everywhere in the world and maybe that's a question you should ask China - don't ask me, ask China that question."

Coronavirus: Everything you need to know