A surge in discrimination against Asian-Americans across the United States indicated a correlation between these incidents and the use of the phrase "China virus" by top administration officials, a new study has found. 

Bias by Americans toward Asian-Americans "declined steadily from 2007 through early 2020 but reversed trend and began to increase on March 8, following the increase in stigmatizing language in conservative media outlets," the study noted.

Eli Michaels, a researcher on the study, told NBC News in an interview that U.S. officials' statements had added a racial connotation to the virus, leading to a rise in anti-Asian bias.

"Progress against bias is generally stable," Michaels said. "But this particular rhetoric, which associates a racial group with a global pandemic, has particularly pernicious effects."

Throughout the last few months, officials from the Trump administration have been inserting China's name in the COVID-19 crisis by using or even inventing phrases that contain racist connotations when referring to the coronavirus. In what many believe is an attempt to divert attention from a sluggish White House response to the COVID-19 pandemic, President Donald Trump has been relentlessly blaming China for the pandemic. 

"Big China Virus breakouts all over the World, including nations which were thought to have done a great job. The Fake News doesn't report this," he tweeted in August.

Trump's blame on China for COVID-19 draws backlash from Americans

(Cover: U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the coronavirus response daily briefing with members of the administration's coronavirus task force at the White House in Washington, U.S. /Reuters)