Imported Chicken Wings to China Allegedly Tested Positive for Coronavirus

By
Boon Hun
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China has been understandably nervous about another Covid-19 outbreak within the country.

After all, when everything went to hell in Wuhan during the early stages of the coronavirus, China had its hands full trying to keep control of the situation.

Then, there were hints of a second outbreak and China spent $177 million to test every single person in the city of Wuhan…within two weeks.

So we’re not surprised that they managed to detect the coronavirus again. But where they detected it on, however, is pretty surprising.

Imported Chicken Wings to China Allegedly Tested Positive for Coronavirus

Yesterday, it was frozen seafood packaging.

And today, it’s imported chicken wings.

According to CNA, according to the city government of Shenzhen, they managed to detect Covid-19 on a sample of frozen chicken wings.

The wings were imported into the country from Brazil.

They jumped into action immediately and traced every single person who have had contact with the wings and conducted the Covid-19 test on them.

Thankfully, none of them returned positive results.

Image: Giphy

Why Did China Start Testing Imported Food?

In June 2020, China started testing meat and seafood containers at major ports into the country after a new outbreak.

The outbreak then was linked to Xinfadi, a wholesale food market located in Beijing.

Many of the cases were low-income migrant workers and nearby restaurants.

Just yesterday, it was reported that there was coronavirus on the packaging of imported frozen seafood that arrived from the port city of Dalian.

The frozen seafood had been purchased by three companies in Yantai, with the Yantai government confirming that it was from an imported shipment from Dalian.

It didn’t, however, specify where the shipment originated.

The Yantai government added that some of the seafood had been processed for export, while the rest had been kept in cold storage and has not entered the market.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t revealed if the seafood were, in turn, exported to other countries.

In July 2020, China suspended imports from three Ecuadorean shrimp producers after the coronavirus was found in the packaging of frozen shrimps imported from Ecuador.

Does this mean we should avoid frozen seafood products, or any frozen foods, or any foods that come in packaging from now on?

Risk of Contracting Coronavirus From Food Packaging “Very Low”

Fortunately, the risk of contracting Covid-19 from food products, food packaging, or bags is “very low”, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The American health institute says no cases of Covid-19 that occurred by touching food, food packaging, or shopping bags have been identified.

The chances of being infected this way would be even lower if the packaging was shipped in over a long distance, said Professor Jin Dong-yan, a molecular virologist.

“After long-distance shipping, the activity of the virus will just go down and will not go up,” Jin said. “Shrimp and fish cannot support the growth of the virus. The virus cannot grow, replicate or multiply in those foods or packages, it will just stay there and die out.”

Similarly, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in April that there was no evidence of viruses like Covid-19 being transmitted through food or food packaging.

“Coronaviruses cannot multiply in food; they need an animal or human host to multiply,” it said.

Wipe Down Food Packaging

However, if you’re still concerned about potentially contracting the coronavirus through packaging, there are a couple of things you can do.

Wipe down any food packaging with disinfectant and wash your hands thoroughly before handling the package and its contents.

You can also regularly disinfect areas where food is frequently prepared or cooked just to be safe.

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Boon Hun
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