Coronavirus: China is gradually reopening their "wet food markets," selling bats and snakes for consumption
After months of lockdown and mandatory quarantine, things are finally getting back to normal in China. As the fight against the Coronavirus becomes gradually more distant in people's minds, the citizens of Guilin, a city located in south-west China, have already begun reopening their "wet food markets," where they sell animals like bats, dogs, cats, pangolins, and snakes for consumption.
via Daily Mail UK
Should we remind everyone what role wet food markets had in the Coronavirus outbreak? It is thought that the epicenter of the Covid-19 was located at the wet food market in Wuhan, a province of Hubei, China. The virus spread quickly from Wuhan to the entire region and then progressively across the rest of the world. Although still not much is known about Covid-19, many experts believe that it originated from an animal, most likely a pangolin (althought some experts have discredited this theory) or a bat.
Given how large the epidemic has become (not to mention a vaccine still does not exist for Covid-19), many are questioning China's decision to let these markets reopen.
The Daily Mail, a british newspaper, reported that the markets that have reopened have also gone back to selling animals (like bats, pangolins, snakes, etc.) thought to have caused the spread of the virus. Things are slowly getting back to normal for this old (albeit somewhat illegal) Chinese tradition, and it doesn't look like they've adopted any new sanitary procedures to prevent a second outbreak from happening.
"Everyone thinks that the epidemic has ended and that there's no need to worry anymore. Now it's everybody else's problem and not theirs. The markets have gone back to opertating exactly the way they did before the Coronavirus. Now, the only difference is that the security guards are keeping people from taking photos, which never would've happened before." The virus may have left China, but their old habits have definitely returned.
