Coronavirus CAN survive on frozen food packaging

Shafaq news/ The coronavirus can survive on frozen food packaging, Chinese officials have said after discovering a city outbreak linked to frozen fish.

According to Daily Mail, The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) detected and isolated a living sample of the coronavirus on the outer packaging of frozen cod. Only traces of the pathogen had been found on frozen packaging before now.

It was imported to the eastern city of Qingdao, which has been hit by a fresh cluster of cases linked to two dock workers. The men, who were diagnosed in September, were responsible for unloading frozen seafood at the port.

The CDC's finding suggests it is possible for the virus, scientifically called SARS-CoV-2, to be conveyed over long distances via frozen goods. 

But scientists warned it is possible both dock workers caught Covid-19 — the disease caused by the virus — from elsewhere, despite the fact there had been zero cases in China for two months before the outbreak.

It cannot be ruled out that the patients contaminated the frozen fish products with coronavirus themselves, rather than the product being the source of infection.

The Food Standard Agency in the UK and the World Health Organization say the risk of catching the virus from frozen foods is 'extremely low'. 

The CDC — different to the agency in the US with the same name — confirmed the detection of the coronavirus on packaging of imported frozen cod on October 17, during an investigation into the Qingdao outbreak.

According to the CDC, it 'has proved that contact with packaging contaminated by living novel coronavirus could lead to infection', China's state-run news agency, Xinhua, reported.

It is the first time in the world that 'live' traces of the virus have been found on cold food packaging, the CDC said. If the virus is live, it means it has the ability to infect people. 

The CDC also said it suggests the coronavirus can spread over borders via imported food.