Shockingly, China’s Wet Markets are Reopening; Will We Ever Learn?

Wet markets in China have reportedly reopened after easing of lockdown measures across several cities. Studies dating back to 2007 have suggested that wet markets and the consumption of bats are a “time bomb” for a coronavirus outbreak.

Wild animal wet markets have long been recognized as a major pandemic threat. As coronavirus spread, China announced it would crackdown on them obviously, but it looks like the crackdown didn’t last long.

With scientists pointing towards the Chinese horseshoe bat as the likely origin of coronavirus, the resumption of consuming and capturing bats poses a threat of the continuous spread of the virus.

The coronavirus pandemic is en route to impose possibly the worst recession in the U.S. and in the global economy since the Great Depression in 1929. The U.S. stocks have recovered through aggressive fiscal policies, but the threat to manufacturing, retail, and other major industries across the U.S., Europe, and even China place the world at risk of a prolonged economic downturn.

As CCN.com reported, in 2007, Clinical Microbiology Reviews Journal released a study detailing the possibility of a SARS-like epidemic reemerging in the future as a result of the viruses contained in bats. The reported reopening of wet markets in China at this time, which is being heavily criticized by analysts, has the potential to fuel a new virus outbreak.

The difficulty governments have faced in regions like Thailand and some parts of China is that thousands of individuals depend on capturing bats and their guano to be sold to farmers as fertilizers as their livelihood. To regions that have a culture of consuming and capturing bats, legally enforcing counteractive measures to prevent a virus outbreak is crucial. There are many options that could allow the authorities to enforce it without leaving thousands unemployed, such as government-supported work programs.

Shockingly, China’s Wet Markets are Reopening; Will We Ever Learn?, CCN, Mar 31