timelets

People familiar with the South China Seafood Market know that it is not only a place to find a rich variety of seafood but also exotic wild animals sold by vendors in deep corners of the market.

There have always been vendors "selling snakes, pheasants, giant salamanders, crocodiles and hares", said a merchant at the market. Most of the wild animal vendors were located at the western part of the market, the merchant said.

Trading certain wild animals, including live ones, is prohibited by Chinese laws and industry regulations. Although market authorities conduct regular inspections and impose heavy fines on violators, sales of wild animals at the market have never been stopped in the past decade, vendors told Caixin.

According to research published on Jan 26 by the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 33 among 585 environmental samples extracted from the market tested positive for the virus. Of the positive samples, 93.9 per cent came from the western part of the market.

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/coronavirus-how-wuhan-lost-the-fight-to-contain-the-virus

Early on, Singapore dealt with a similar problem using zero tolerance and severe punishments, including the death penalty.