This sounds like something trump would say, but, surprisingly, he did not.

This came from Senator Jon Cornyn, Republican, Texas. His full quote:

China is to blame because the culture where people eat bats & snakes & dogs & things like that, these viruses are transmitted from the animal to the people and that’s why China has been the source of a lot of these viruses like SARS, like MERS, the Swine Flu.

I’m completely dumbfounded. Floored. Shocked. How can someone in Congress make such a stupid, ignorant statement? (I wouldn’t have been a bit surprised if trump said this, though.) There’s no merit, no proof that COVID19 was initially transferred from animal, specifically a bat, to a human. None. Zero. Zilch.

The only video I can find so far, as this idiotic statement is just a couple hours old, is posted on Twitter, and I have problems with the sound. I cannot hear it through my computer speakers. But if I use my headphones, I can hear it. Hopefully, you will not experience the same problem I’m having. Once a better version becomes public, I will update this post.

More information posted in NBC.com (link):

“China is to blame,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said Wednesday of the virus, which was first identified in Wuhan, China. “Because the culture where people eat bats and snakes and dogs and things like that.”

He proceeded to identify the consumption of such animals as the source of the virus, echoing a since debunked myth that the outbreak began with a woman eating bat soup. The origins of the virus remain a mystery to health officials, even as it continues to spread globally.

The senator also incorrectly cited China as the birthplace of two other previous outbreaks: the Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS, and the swine flu pandemic.

“China has been the source of a lot of these viruses like SARS, like MERS, the swine flu and now the coronavirus,” he said. “So I think they have a fundamental problem, and I don’t object to geographically identifying where it’s coming from.”

But MERS was first detected in Saudi Arabia in 2012, and the swine flu was discovered in the United States back in 2009.

Cornyn’s statement comes just hours after the president doubled down on his use of the term “Chinese Virus,” despite public backlash against the term.

POST-PUBLISHING UPDATE:

After I posted this on Facebook, I got a rash of responses from people that, well, rather surprised me. So I thought it best to clarify what I have found about consuming animals and COVID19. Now, I’m not a scientist nor doctor. There is so much info out there, much of which is rather confusing. So this is what I have found. If I am wrong in anything here, please let me know and provide a reference.

First of all, Coronavirus is a classification/category/etc – not sure what the correct term is here. There are multiple viruses that fall into the category. In fact, A coronavirus is a type of common virus that can infect your nose, sinuses, or upper throat. They can spread much like cold viruses. Almost everyone gets a coronavirus infection at least once in their life, most likely as a young child.

COVID19 is the SPECIFIC strain that is wreaking havoc on the world. Now…

Yes, the COVID19 has been tracked to a market in China. No surprise there. This market does sell bats, rats, dogs, fish, steak, chicken, octopus, and everything else under the sun. There is no hard evidence that it came from eating a bat.

According to the CDC “At this time, there is no evidence that companion animals, including pets, can spread COVID-19 or that they might be a source of infection in the United States.”

Lastly, this Senator incorrectly included dogs in his list. Dogs are not known to carry any coronavirus. Now people all over the US are letting paranoia take over and are taking their dogs to the pound, or shooting them.

Please, I beg you…. your dog is not the problem. If this crossed your mind, you are the problem. Read up more.

Published by Michelle

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