China announced it detected the coronavirus on frozen squid from Ecuador in mid-November 2020. It removed the products ‘following the spirit of putting people’s lives first and protecting people’s health’. We review China’s claim of COVID virus on frozen squid to determine how threatening this really was.
Is China’s Claim of COVID Virus on Frozen Squid Well Founded?
We can safely assume the claim is well-considered and genuine, given the precision of China’s COVID-19 countermeasures. However, Associated Press reported on November 24 2020 that the U.S. suggests this may amount to an unfair trade barrier. Moreover, New Zealand, Canada and the EU say they’re unclear about China’s technology, and have seen no solid evidence.
World Health Organization WHO told Associated Press live viruses on packaging appear to be ‘rare and isolated cases’. They added ‘there is no evidence of people contracting COVID-19 from consuming food’. Although WHO did concede the virus can ‘survive a long time under cold storage conditions’. We decided to investigate further because we still had lingering concerns.
Is There a Low Risk or No Risk at All?
We accept China’s claim of COVID virus on frozen squid, and share their concerns. WHO on the other hand seems to regard the incident as less important. Timothy Newsome is a virologist at the University of Sydney. He told Associated Press ‘It is possible and may represent some risk. But it’s certainly at the lower end of risk for transmission’.
Andrew Pekosz works at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health. He says a positive test ‘doesn’t indicate infectious virus, just that some signal from the virus is present on that surface. I’ve seen no convincing data that SARS-CoV-2 on food packaging poses a significant risk for infection’, he adds.
But then China did say it was ‘following the spirit of putting people’s lives first and protecting people’s health’. And nobody should argue against taking the tightest precautions. Especially while a pandemic of this nature is raging elsewhere on the planet.
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Preview Image: Automated Packaging Equipment
