China is responsible for the virus.

But to call a wet market 'primitive' is the sign of someone from a culture deeply insulated from its supply chains.

Someone who has distanced herself from the moment life becomes death, when livestock becomes food. /1 https://twitter.com/AnnCoulter/status/1250613364092534785

There's a wet market in my neighbourhood. No contagions from there.

There are wet markets all over my country. No notable outbreaks there.

There are wet markets all over this part of the world. No major pandemics either.

With the exception of China. /2

Many Chinese wet markets are filthy and poorly regulated, if at all. They are breeding grounds for disease.

In countries with stringent health and safety standards and enforcement regimes, wet markets are the closest and most easily accessible markets. /3

Shutting down wet markets risks turning neighbourhoods and districts into food deserts, like in America.

Western-style supermarkets and grocers aren't going to automatically rush in to fill the gap. Many customers may not even want to go there. /4

Permanently shuttering wet markets is throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

What the world needs is comprehensive hygiene standards and strict regulations to prevent animal abuse and disease.

And for China to take responsibility for the #ChineseVirus. /end