Wuhan in China has officially banned the eating and hunting of wild animals as the coronavirus pandemic continues to be linked to the city's wet market.

This new rule went into consideration on May 13 and will stay in place for five years, according to a notice released by the Wuhan government on Wednesday.

The local administration in the Chinese city said on Wednesday that along with the consumption ban, Wuhan would become a “wildlife sanctuary” where virtually all hunting of wild animals was banned with the exception of measures for ”scientific research, population regulation, monitoring of epidemic diseases and other special circumstances”.

People are also not allowed to encourage or persuade others to eat or conduct illegal trading of wild animals.

Earlier this year, experts in China said the deadly coronavirus had likely jumped onto humans from wild animals sold as food at a wet market in Wuhan.

Wuhan, a city of 11m people in the Hubei province of China, saw the first cases of Covid-19 on 2019 last.

The exact source of the new coronavirus remains unconfirmed. Experts speculate that it originated in bats, snakes, pangolins, or some other animal.