Coronavirus: Paul McCartney Supports 'Medieval' China Wet Market Shutdown Amid Pandemic

Paul McCartney recently dropped that he supports the ban of Chinese wet markets. The singer and songwriter, dubbed China’s wet markets as “medieval,” blaming them for the spread of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Although there are a number of people who have been led to believe that the virus spread from the wet markets in Wuhan, China, there is still no clear evidence that supports this theory.

But during a call to radio host Howard Stern about the crisis, McCartney said, “I really hope that this will mean the Chinese government says, ‘OK guys, we have really got to get super hygienic around here.’ Let’s face it, it is a little bit medieval eating bats.”

Stern’s response was, “They will not close down these wet markets, that got us into trouble in the first place. It’s mind-boggling, right?”

“It wouldn’t be so bad if this is the only thing it seems like you can blame on those wet markets. It seems like SARS, avian flu, all sorts of other stuff that has afflicted us … what’s it for? For these quite medieval practices. They need to clean up their act. This may lead to [change]. If this doesn’t, I don’t know what will,” McCartney replied.

In a report by Variety, McCartney appeared on Stern’s SiriusXM show to talk about how he is amid coronavirus pandemic and reveal that he is currently in quarantine with his daughter and her family in Sussex. The radio host then asked him his views on the petitions to ban wet markets.

McCartney responded, “I think it makes a lot of sense … when you’ve got the obscenity of some of the stuff that’s going on there and what comes out of it, they might as well be letting off atomic bombs. It’s affecting the whole world.”

The so-called “wet markets” in Asia that stows fresh meat and even live animals to an extent, engage in trading these produce, The Guardian reported. There may be broad circulating theories— though not confirmed — of zoonotic or animal-to-human transmission. Yet the real score as to how and where the current virus truly originated still needs to be investigated.