Dr. Fauci Suggests China Shut Down All Wet Markets, As They Begin to Reopen

White House Coronavirus Task Force Holds Daily Briefing

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As China begins to reemerge from their coronavirus crisis, Dr. Anthony Fauci says they cannot allow wet markets to reopen.

The US director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases went so far as to say the rest of the world should demand and put pressure on the Chinese to make sure such markets - which sell fresh meat and produce - remain shut down.

“It boggles my mind how, when we have so many diseases that emanate out of that unusual human-animal interface, that we just don't shut it down,” Fauci told Fox and Friends.

Dr. Fauci isn't the only appalled expert. More believe these markets are a real danger to spreading disease.

“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 said earlier this month.

The Chinese government has reportedly allowed some wet markets in the country to reopen as the threat of the contagion lessened, although the one in Wuhan remains shuttered because it has been rumored to be ground zero in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fauci thinks America and other countries need to get together and stop them from opening.

“In other countries in which this is commonplace, I would like to see the rest of the world really lean with a lot of pressure on those countries that have that because what we’re going through right now is a direct result of that,” he said.

Sen. Lindsay Graham sent a letter to the Chinese ambassador earlier urging him to make sure the markets stay closed.

“It is well documented that wet markets in China have been the source of a number of worldwide health problems," Graham said in his letter, "and their operation should cease immediately.”

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