Musician Paul McCartney said China’s “medieval” wet markets, where the novel coronavirus is thought to have originated, should be banned.
The Beatles star appeared on Howard Stern’s radio show Tuesday, during which he discussed the pandemic and condemned wet markets, which are large and feature a variety of both living and dead animals, including exotic creatures.
“I really hope that this will mean the Chinese government says, ‘OK guys, we have really got to get super hygienic around here.’ Let’s face it, it is a little bit medieval eating bats,” the rocker said, according to the Guardian.
“It wouldn’t be so bad if this is the only thing it seems like you can blame on those wet markets,” McCartney said. “It seems like SARS, avian flu, all sorts of other stuff that has afflicted us … and what’s it for? For these quite medieval practices. They need to clean up their act.”
A bipartisan slate of lawmakers signed a letter calling for an international ban on wet markets. The lawmakers wrote that “global action is needed to prevent future deadly pandemics.”
“Wet markets in particular pose a threat to global public health because wildlife comes from many different locations without any standardized sanitary or health inspection processes,” they said.
Almost 2 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, with more than 125,000 deaths. The outbreak began in Wuhan, China, late last year.
