One Year Later, Wuhan Market Believed to be Covid-19 Outbreak Epicentre Remains Empty and Barricaded

In December 2019, four mysterious cases of pneumonia were linked to the famous Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China. Almost immediately, the wet market was shuttered. A few weeks later, the country went into a gruelling 76-day lockdown that came with just a few hours’ notice and prevented people from leaving their homes. Photo: Reuters

Almost a year since the first Covid-19 cases were reported in Wuhan which has led to a worldwide pandemic killing millions of people, the Wuhan wet market where it was initially detected stands empty even as the city around it has come back to life. Photo: Reuters

Optical shops are seen open which were originally at the second floor of the Huanan seafood market, where the coronavirus believed to have first surfaced, almost a year after the start of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Wuhan. Photo: Reuters

It's become a symbol of the fierce political and scientific battle raging around the origin of the virus with Beijing continuing to spar with the United States and other countries, accusing them of bias. A team of World Health Organization experts has yet to visit Wuhan, let alone the market. Health authorities in China and abroad have warned that origin tracing efforts could take years and yield inconclusive results. In Wuhan, where the stigma of being the first coronavirus epicentre hangs heavy, over a dozen residents and business owners told Reuters they don't believe the virus began in the city. Photo: Reuters

A man walking next to the still-closed Huanan seafood wholesale market in Wuhan, Hubei province, where the global coronavirus outbreak is believed to have begun. Photograph: Hector Retamal/AFP

One year on, the wet market that used to be immensely popular once upon a time, now is a shadow of its former glory – barricaded, shuttered and stigmatised. Photo: AFP