China detects traces of Coronavirus in imported beef and seafood once again

The Chinese authorities on Wednesday, November 25 said they had once again detected COVID-19 on meat imports. China's Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that it found COVID-19 traces on the exterior of food packages from an unspecified country. Beijing on Tuesday had banned shrimp imports from an Ecuadorian company over alleged traces of COVID-19 on the packages. 

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This is not the first time that China has detected COVID-19 traces on food imports. Earlier, it was reported that beef imports from New Zealand, Brazil, and Bolivia were under the scanner after COVID-19 traces were found at a storage facility, where the meat was kept. New Zealand later said that it has been informed to them that the COVID-19 traces were detected on products from Argentina and not on theirs. 

China had earlier blamed an outbreak in Bejing on fish imports from Norway, which had lead to an unofficial ban on Norweigian fish. The World Health Organisation (WHO) had said that COVID-19 cannot be spread via food packages; however, the disease can survive in sub-zero temperatures for up to 14 days. 

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US accuses China of playing games 

However, no other country apart from China has reported detecting COVID-19 on food imports. The United States had earlier accused China of using COVID-19 as a garb in order to play dirty trade games after the Communist nation reported findings of COVID-19 on food imports several times. China has dismissed the US' allegations as "baseless" and "unreasonable", defending its decision to test frozen food packages as "reasonable". 

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The reports have turned out to be a matter of worry for the meat export industry across the world who fear that it could damage their reputation and subsequently affect the revenues. According to COVID-19 regulations in China, if authorities detect the disease on food packages from a certain exporter, its products may get suspended for a week. If traces on food packages from a particular exporter are detected three times, its products might get suspended for a month. 

The meat industry was one of the first industries that came under the scanner after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world. The industry brought unprecedented changes and introduced robust protocols to ensure COVID-19 doesn't spread in workplaces. 

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(Image Credit: AP)