Free Republic

China’s recent COVID-19 outbreaks in the northeast have come from travelers entering the country or contaminated frozen food imports, the National Health Commission (NHC) said on Saturday. “Since Dec. 2020, epidemic clusters have occurred in Beijing, Sichuan, Liaoning, Hebei and Heilongjiang,” a statement posted on the NHC’s website said citing the briefing by Ma. “They mainly have the following characteristics. Firstly, they are all imported from abroad, caused by travelers from overseas, or contaminated cold-chain imported items.” Total case numbers remain well below what China saw at the height of the outbreak in early 2020, but concerns about a new...

Fitness apparel brand Lululemon is apologizing after a senior staffer promoted a T-shirt design for “bat fried rice” during the coronavirus pandemic. Senior global art director Trevor Fleming, whose social media accounts now have all been deactivated, posted the design featuring a Chinese takeout box and pair of chopsticks with bat wings on his Instagram on Sunday. The design was created by California artist Jess Sluder who was selling it digitally for $60. “Where did COVID-19 come from? Nothing is certain, but we know a bat was involved,” the artist wrote in a post of the design online.

Chinese “wet markets” have reportedly reopened, selling cats, bats, and dogs for human consumption. A Mail on Sunday correspondent reported seeing meat markets open back up for business after the Chinese government ordered a ban on the sale of wild animals such as bats following reports they may have contributed to the spread of the coronavirus. “The markets have gone back to operating in exactly the same way as they did before coronavirus,” said a correspondent in Dongguan. “The only difference is that security guards try to stop anyone taking pictures which would never have happened before.”