Three Chinese cities have reported that coronavirus was detected on imported frozen food over the course of four days, raising fresh concerns that contaminated food versions could lead to new outbreaks.
On Thursday, health officials in the southeastern city of Shenzhen said a surface sample of frozen chicken wings from Brazil tested positive for the virus. The virus was discovered as part of routine screenings carried out on imports of meat and seabirds since June in the wake of an outbreak in Beijing linked to a large-scale food market.
The Shenzhen Municipal Health Commission said in a statement that it had tracked down and tested anyone who may have come in contact with potentially contaminated food products, and all results were negative.
“All citizens must be careful in recent days when buying imported frozen meat products and aquarium products,” the commission warned the city’s 12 million inhabitants.
The discovery comes a day after the virus was found on the packaging of frozen shrimp imported from Ecuador during another routine inspection at a restaurant in the southeastern city of Wuhu, health officials there reported.
On Monday, health officials in the port city of Yantai in eastern China said coronavirus was discovered on the outer packaging of frozen seabirds transported by a foreign ship. It was not clear where the food was imported.
Last month, Chinese health officials also reported the presence of coronavirus on imported packaging of frozen foods in the cities of Dalian, Xiamen and Pingxiang.
China reported 19 new cases on Thursday, the first time the number of new cases has dropped below 20 since a large spike of 127 cases on July 30, the highest since March 5.
To date, 84,756 cases have been reported by Chinese health officials, including 4,634 deaths.
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Worldwide, more than 20 million cases have been confirmed, with more than half of them in the US, Brazil and India.
India, a nation of 1.3 billion whose economy has been hit hard by the pandemic, reported a record rise in new cases on Thursday, while the death toll exceeded 47,000, the fourth highest in the world.
Infections grew by 66,999 from a day earlier to reach a total of almost 2.4 million to date, India’s Ministry of Health said.
Mar premier Narendra Modi tweeted Tuesday that the test capacity of the country has been significantly improved.
“India’s death toll is declining and we need to work hard to make sure it goes below 1 percent,” he said.
Meanwhile, New Zealand, which saw no local transmission for three months, shut down its largest city of 1.7 million, shortly after 4 people were confirmed to have the virus earlier this week. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also reintroduced social distance measures across the rest of the country.
The country’s health officials on Thursday reported 13 new community infections, all linked to the original 4 cases.
“We are reminded again and again how difficult this virus is and how easily it can spread,” Ardern said in a televised address. “Going hard and early is still the best course of action.”
New Zealand was praised for its large-scale test and contact tracing system that helped bring the outbreak under control. It reported 1,239 confirmed cases and 22 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, much lower than many other developed nations.
Reuters contributed to this report.
