The Wet Markets

[Randy W]

Goldthread speaks up for the wet markets. Personally, I think they could stand some sanitation reforms.

 

Don’t blame wet markets for the coronavirus outbreak

 

 

Wild animals sold at a Chinese wet market have been blamed for the coronavirus outbreak, but most venues sell local produce and are an indispensable part of daily life. Eliminating them would be tragic.

 

. . .

 

Despite Western characterizations of the wet market as a place teeming with the bizarre and visceral (a recent NPR piece describes stalls “red with blood as fish are gutted and filleted right in front of the customers’ eyes”), most wet markets are mundane affairs, a place to buy produce directly from the source.

 

 

 

The hardest part about making hamburgers in China is finding a decent bun.

 

[amberjack1234]

They certainly could use a makeover. At the very least sanitize the place after closing and everyone has left. The meat should at least be screened from flies if using glass is to expensive.

[Greg.D.]

Don't blame the wet markets, blame the U. S. :

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-13/chinese-official-pushes-conspiracy-theory-u-s-army-behind-virus?

Chinese Official Pushes Conspiracy Theory U.S. Army Behind Virus

A Chinese foreign ministry official pushed a conspiracy theory the U.S. army may have had a role in spreading the virus, highlighting growing tensions between the world’s biggest economies as both governments seek to deflect blame for the outbreak.

“It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan,” Zhao Lijian, a foreign ministry spokesman, said in a tweet. “Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation!”

2/2 CDC was caught on the spot. When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation! pic.twitter.com/vYNZRFPWo3

— Lijian Zhao 赵立坚 (@zlj517) March 12, 2020

With the coronavirus spreading from China into the U.S. and around the world, both nations are trading tit-for-tat claims about its origins. While it’s unclear whether Zhao was being facetious, earlier this month he became the first official in China to suggest that the virus didn’t originate there, even though he hasn’t provided any evidence for that claim.