Beijing: Living novel coronavirus on the outer packaging of imported frozen marine fish in the port city of Qingdao was detected and isolated by China’s health authority. It is for the first time in the world that living novel coronavirus has been isolated from the outer packaging of cold-chain food. The authorities in Qingdao, where a new cluster of COVID-19 cases was reported recently, conducted tests on all of its about 11 million population. No new clusters of cases were found after the tests, the local authorities said.
In July, China suspended imports of frozen shrimp after the deadly virus was found on packages and the inner wall of a container. The CDC said it detected and isolated the living virus on the outer packaging of imported frozen cod in Qingdao. The finding was made during an investigation to trace the source of recent infections reported in the city. It has proved that contact with packaging contaminated by living novel coronavirus could lead to infection. The agency said the risk of cold-chain food circulating in China’s market being contaminated by the novel coronavirus is very low, citing recent nucleic acid test results for samples taken from the business.
Post Your Comments