China questions the transmission of Covid-19 by frozen food packaging
Audio 01:11
The entrance to the Xinfadi market in Beijing.
June 16, 2020 (Illustration).
REUTERS - TINGSHU WANG
Text by: RFI Follow
5 mins
After the state press in China, it is epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan who warns of the risks of transmissions linked to the environment.
Statements that come as a WHO team is expected in Wuhan early next year to investigate the origins of the pandemic.
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From our correspondent in Beijing
,
Stéphane Lagarde
The blowers of the air vents, the red lights of the butchers, the grocery stores, then the fishmongers: hairy crabs, eels, and dozens of species of fish lying on a carpet of crushed ice, but… “
No salmon here!
Nor further.
It has been banned since the Covid cases discovered in Beijing last June.
Christmas is no exception to the rule in this market in the Chinese capital, so we leave without salmon before we are caught up a little further on to discreetly offer us the requested fillets wrapped in black plastic.
The salmon sold under wraps in certain Beijing markets is the consequence of this undisguised fear of contamination via the cold chain, which the authorities have rehashed in the official media for several weeks.
“
How long can the virus survive?
"
“
Can humans get infected from outer packaging?
What is the viral load?
How long can the virus survive?
Asks Zhong Nanshan.
These problems force us to work on these modes of transmission and to propose preventive measures continued the famous epidemiologist during a medical congress this weekend.
For the state press, the hero of the fight against Covid-19 in China has thus warned against the transmission of the virus via contact with imported products.
Since last July, China has observed the presence of traces of the coronavirus on more than fifty samples of frozen food from abroad in sixteen Chinese cities and provinces.
Packaging of fish imported from Pakistan tested positive by Chinese customs.
https://t.co/BGUWq4D8W2
- Stéphane Lagarde (@StephaneLagarde) December 8, 2020
These discoveries will undoubtedly be recalled to the World Health Organization team expected in China in early January.
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