Coronavirus: Reopening wet markets must conform to strict standards, says WHO
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Vendors wearing face masks sell prawns at the Wuhan Baishazhou Market in Wuhan, China.
PHOTO: AFP
GENEVA (REUTERS) - Any "wet markets" that are allowed to reopen after coronavirus lockdowns must conform to stringent food and hygiene standards, World Health Organisation director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing on Friday (April 17).
Suspicion has fallen on a market selling live animals in the Chinese city of Wuhan as the possible origin of the new coronavirus.
"When these markets are allowed to reopen, it should only be on condition they conform to stringent food and hygiene standards," Tedros said.
"Governments must rigorously enforce bans on trade of wildlife for food."