GENEVA (Reuters) – The World Health Organization said on Thursday it saw no evidence that coronavirus was spread through food or packaging and urged people not to be afraid of the virus entering the food chain.
PHOTO PHOTO: Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks at a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland January 30, 2020. REUTERS / Denis Balibouse / File Photo
Two cities in China have said they have found traces of the coronavirus in imported frozen chicken wings from Brazil and on outer packaging of frozen Ecuadorian shrimp, raising concerns that contaminated food transports could cause a new outbreak. [nL4N2FF076]
“People should not be afraid of food, or food packaging or food processing or delivery,” WHO head of emergency program Mike Ryan told a briefing in Geneva. “There is no evidence that food like the food chain is involved in transmitting this virus. And people need to feel comfortable and safe. ”
WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove said China had tested hundreds of thousands of packages and “found very, very little, less than 10” that proved positive for the virus.
The Ministry of Agriculture of Brazil said in a statement that it was seeking clarification on the Chinese findings. Ecuador’s production minister, Ivan Ontaneda, told Reuters that the country maintains strict protocols and can not be held responsible for what happens to goods after they leave the country.
More than 20.69 million people have been reported to be infected worldwide by the novel coronavirus and nearly 750,000 have died, according to a Reuters census.
The WHO is now urging countries that strike bilateral deals for faxes not to abandon multilateral efforts, as vaccinating smallpox will leave the world still vulnerable.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia had become the first country to grant regulatory approval for a COVID-19 vaccine after less than two months of human testing, a move that compared Moscow to its success in the space race. the Cold War.
Moscow’s decision to approve it has raised concerns among some experts. Only about 10% of clinical trials are successful and some scientists fear that Moscow might set national prestige for security.
The WHO does not have enough information to make a judgment on the widespread use of the Russian vaccine, said Bruce Aylward, WHO senior adviser.
“The vast majority of the world’s population is susceptible to this disease,” he told the briefing. ‘The second thing we see is the severity of the application of control measures is declining. People get closer … masks are not used the way they should and so on.
“So any leveling of the disease we are looking at just drags you into a sense of false security … because it has a lot of room to create problems,” Aylward added.
Report by Stephanie Nebehay, Michael Shields and John Miller; Additional Report by Alexandra Valencia in Quito; Written by Nick Macfie; Edited by Hugh Lawson
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