Biosecurity

The coronavirus likely came from China’s wet markets. They’re reopening anyway.

The consensus among scientists who specialize in emerging infectious diseases is that the novel coronavirus jumped from animals to humans at one of China’s wet markets, places where live animals are often slaughtered and sold for human consumption — including, in some cases, wildlife like bats and pangolins.

After the outbreak of the Covid-19 disease, China temporarily closed down the wet markets. In February, it also banned the sale of wildlife for consumption, making it illegal to sell wild animals (but not common live animals such as chickens or fish) as food.

Now, the country is reopening some of its wet markets — even as the global uproar over them is reaching a crescendo. Although the ban on selling wildlife remains in effect at the markets, the move is still controversial, and a growing chorus of experts is calling for a permanent ban on the markets in China and beyond.