Continued attempts to stop the sale of wild animals and their meat have not caused any change in the wet markets of Asia Pacific, although the region has been struggling to contain the largest and deadliest wave of COVID-19.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly three-quarters of infectious diseases that spread to humans are of animal origin.
The SARS virus, for example, which killed 800 people between 2002 and 2004, is believed to have started with bats before spreading to the Chinese wildlife market in the Chinese city of Foshan.
In April, after a research team in China said the Wuhan seafood market and COVID-19 were likely to reach humans, the WHO never made a move urging countries to stop selling wild mammals in wet markets. an emergency measure.
[S.Mahfuz/BenarNews]
In his final press conference, Malaysia’s outgoing police chief blasted his boss on Friday for intervening in daily departmental affairs, saying this hampered his work and divided the force.
The meddling continued even after he reported it to the prime minister, Police Inspector-General Abdul Hamid Bador said. But his boss, Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin, said he had the authority to involve himself in police matters.
“He [the home minister] is only given the mandate to set policies, the direction of the police force. It is not his job to decide who becomes police commissioner and where, or who becomes the director and where. … Hamzah insisted on assuming the power to decide who will be placed where,” Abdul Hamid told reporters.