Dr. Anthony Fauci, a key member of the White House coronavirus task force, said Friday China and other nations should be pressured to shut down so-called “wet markets” as the new novel coronavirus spreads throughout the world.

“[They] should shut down those things right away,” Fauci told 'Fox & Friends" Friday. “It just boggles my mind that when we have so many diseases that emanate out of that unusual human-animal interface that we don’t just shut it down.”

Scientists have yet to determine exactly how the novel coronavirus spreading around the globe began infecting people. But theories have swirled that the virus originated in bats, then infected another animal that passed it to humans at a market in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

The Chinese government has allowed some wet markets in the country to reopen as the coronavirus threat has reportedly decreased, but the one in Wuhan remains closed, according to Fox News. The Hunan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan was linked to an early large cluster of coronavirus cases, according to The Washington Post. China’s wet markets sell dead and living animals for human consumption and are known for lack of hygiene and government oversight.

America is changing faster than ever! Click now to follow Changing America on Facebook and Twitter and stay up-to-the-second on the latest news and smartest insights. Fauci said in other nations where such markets are commonplace, he would like to see “the rest of the world really lean with a lot of pressure on those countries that have that because what we’re going through right now is a direct result of that.”

But the question of whether to ban such markets is a complex one. The Chinese government tried to ban wet markets in 2013 after a deadly avian flu outbreak, which only led to more dangerous black markets.On Thursday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) called on his Senate colleagues to sign on to a letter to the ambassador from China urging Beijing to reconsider its decision to open wet markets, pointing to remarks from Fauci who called China’s decision misguided.

READ MORE OF OUR BREAKING NEWS ABOUT CORONAVIRUS

HERE ARE THE 6 WAYS THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC COULD END

NOBEL LAUREATE PREDICTS US WILL HAVE MUCH FASTER CORONAVIRUS RECOVERY THAN EXPECTED

MORE THAN 200,000 PEOPLE HAVE RECOVERED FROM CORONAVIRUS

WHO IS MOST AT RISK FOR THE MOST SERIOUS CORONAVIRUS SYMPTOMS?

FAUCI PREDICTS ANOTHER CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK IN THE FALL WITH 'VERY DIFFERENT' OUTCOME

“Bringing wild and exotic animals to open markets to interact with humans and other food supplies is both crazy and dangerous,” Graham tweeted. “Hope my Republican and Democratic Senate colleagues will sign onto my letter to the Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. urging the immediate closure of these wet markets for the safety of the world at large.”

Just spoke with Dr. Fauci on a conference call about China's decision to reopen their wet markets.



He emphatically stated this was a crazy decision by China which puts the world's health at risk. — Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) April 2, 2020

More than one million cases of coronavirus have been confirmed since the virus emerged late last year, and more than 55,000 deaths have occurred.

SEE MORE ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC IN THE US

CDC CONSIDERING ADVISING EVERYONE TO WEAR FACE MASKS IN PUBLIC

HOW TO TELL IF YOU HAVE CORONAVIRUS

CAN LYSOL OR CLOROX KILL THE CORONAVIRUS?

CAN YOU GET CORONAVIRUS TWICE?

CAN I SHOP FOR GROCERIES SAFELY DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC?

HERE ARE THE BEST MAPS TO CHECK OUT THE CURRENT STATE OF THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC