A CNN reporter says she was racially abused as she was preparing to go on air to talk about the coronavirus pandemic.

Kyung Lah, the broadcaster's senior national correspondent, was getting ready to discuss California's stay-at-home order when a passerby insulted her.

She tweeted: "A hateful guy, while I was waiting to do a live shot, said some racist s*** to me about being Chinese. a) I'm not Chinese, I'm Korean-American (accuracy w/your racism pls) and b) wtf. It's been a long time since I've heard this to my face, America."

Asked about it by CNN anchor Jake Tapper she said: "It's something that you see on social media frequently, especially if you're an Asian-American reporting on controversial or even non-controversial news items.

"So we were standing there preparing for live shots this morning, just hours ago, and a man walked up and used a racial slur.

"I was so surprised and so taken aback and that I asked him to repeat it because I couldn't believe it. So it is something that is happening. And what I find most surprising is that it is happening in front of our faces, directly at people. That is something that have not experienced in a very, very long time in this country."

Donald Trump and other conservative figures have been criticised for constantly referring to Covid-19 as the "Chinese virus". Photographs of his notes for a White House briefing showed that at one point the president had even crossed out "corona" and written in "Chinese".