Chinese “wet markets” have reportedly reopened, selling cats, bats, and dogs for human consumption.
A Mail on Sunday correspondent reported seeing meat markets open back up for business after the Chinese government ordered a ban on the sale of wild animals such as bats following reports they may have contributed to the spread of the coronavirus.
“The markets have gone back to operating in exactly the same way as they did before coronavirus,” said a correspondent in Dongguan. “The only difference is that security guards try to stop anyone taking pictures which would never have happened before.”
The coronavirus was first detected in the city of Wuhan in November, but according to the Daily Mail, Chinese locals view the pandemic as a solved issue in the country and have reportedly gone back to life before the virus.
“Everyone here believes the outbreak is over and there’s nothing to worry about anymore. It’s just a foreign problem now as far as they are concerned,” said a China-based correspondent who took photographs published by the outlet.
Wet markets have long been criticized for being unhygienic and cruel to animals. Animals such as bats, lizards, and toads are sold as medicine to treat common ailments. Cats and dogs are sold and butchered on the streets.
Scientists have yet to pinpoint what started the coronavirus, but some speculate these markets played a role due to their unsanitary conditions.
“You’ve got live animals, so there’s feces everywhere. There’s blood because of people chopping them up,” Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance, which works to protect wildlife and public health from emerging diseases, told the Associated Press last month.
There have been more than 740,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus around the globe and more than 35,000 associated deaths.
