China: Authorities find coronavirus on packaging of Brazilian beef in Wuhan

Authorities in Wuhan on November 12 said that they had detected the presence of novel coronavirus on the packaging of a batch of beef imported from Brazil. In a statement, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission confirmed that they had found three positive samples on the outer packaging of frozen, boneless Brazilian beef. This comes as the latest challenge to the Chinese city of 11 million people which had earlier declared itself coronavirus free.

As per the authorities, the beef had entered the country at Qingdao port on August 7 and was then transported to Wuhan on August 17. It was stored in a cold storage facility until the virus was detected recently. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that cow meat was imported from a plant owned by Marfrig Global Foods S.A., which is a Brazilian firm.

Infection via imported food

China has ramped up it's testing of frozen foods as part of its latest nationwide campaign. Last week, the country reported a new case of coronavirus after a worker tested positive in the province of Tianjin. As per the authorities, the infection has been traced back to the packaging of a frozen pork knuckle sample imported from Bremen, a city in northwestern Germany.

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Meanwhile, the anti-epidemic group in Tianjin confirmed that the 38-year-old worker had tested positive due to his exposure to the food packaging in the cold storage facility. They added that the packaging was initially imported from Bremen to Tianjin and then relayed further to the city of Dezhou in Shandong Province. In addition to the contaminated forklift, a doorknob at the cold storage facility had also shown the presence of COVID-19 heightening the Chinese scepticism towards the frozen food items.

As per state-controlled daily Global Times, the worker has been diagnosed as a ‘mild case’ and will be receiving treatment at a designated hospital. Meanwhile, eight of his close colleagues have also been quarantined for medical observation. In the aftermath, authorities have also started a contact testing programme, tracing back to his 59 associates, who’ve all been put under quarantine.

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