According to a report, a packaged frozen seafood that was being shipped from Ecuador to China was infected with the coronavirus. The shipment reached the Dalian city in China. There is a recent surge in the number of COVID-19 cases in the city. Thus, it increases the level of risk for consumers.
According to Yantai city officials, three companies purchased frozen seafood from the port. They said that the food was imported and landed in the Dalian city. Moreover, the origin of the food was not specified.
According to the customs officers in Dalian, there were traits of the coronavirus on shrimp packaging. It came from Ecuador in July and made China stop imports from three different shrimp producers from Ecuador.
Some quantity of seafood was sent for further processing and export. However, the rest was stored and hasn’t entered the market as yet. The officials then sealed the goods and the people who handled the seafood were asked to go in quarantine. They also had to go through the coronavirus test and the reports came negative.
Can frozen packages carry coronavirus?
There is a lot of research going on to determine if food or packaging can carry traces of coronavirus. The very first cluster of COVID-19 also related to the seafood market in Wuhan. The initial reports suggested that it originated from animal products that were on sale.
Li Fengqin, the head of the microbiology laboratory at China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, said back in June, that there is a possibility of frozen food getting contaminated with coronavirus. It can lead to infections and pose risks to people.
The virus can live up to two years if the temperature is -20 degrees Celsius. However, there isn’t any strong evidence as of now that confirms if coronavirus spreads from frozen food or not.
