Former HK health chief seeks ban on game animal trade

HONG KONG: Former Hong Kong health chief Ko Wing-man plans to submit a motion at the upcoming Two Sessions in Beijing, calling for a ban on the hunting and consumption of game animals in light of the Covid-19 (novel coronavirus) epidemic.

Ko, a former secretary for food and health and now a Hong Kong member of the nation’s top political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference National Committee, intends to submit the proposal along with another CPPCC delegate, Cheung Chi-kong of the One Country, Two Systems Research Institute.

Ko had played a key role in the battle against the SARS outbreak in Hong Kong in 2003 while he was working at the Hospital Authority.

He said both the SARS and Covid-19 viruses originated from game animals.

While Chinese people are fond of eating exotic animals like civet cats and pangolins, the biggest problem is that many of these animals are hunted and kept in small cages for sale and consumption.

“So, even if only one of the animals is infected, it can quickly infect other animals in the cage, as well as butchers,” he warned.

However, Ko noted that it was still uncertain whether the annual meetings of the National People’s Congress – the nation’s top legislature – and the CPPCC, due to be held next month, would go ahead in view of the outbreak.

The CPPCC and NPC meetings are scheduled to start on March 3 and March 5, respectively.

But Hong Kong delegates and deputies to both sessions have yet to be informed whether the meetings will be held on schedule due to health concerns. — China Daily/ANN