Asia

China finds heavy coronavirus traces in seafood, meat sections of Beijing food market

adminJune 19, 20201 Mins read92 Views

BEIJING: China has found the trading sections for meat and seafood in Beijing's wholesale food market to be severely contaminated with the new coronavirus and suspects the area's low temperature and high humidity may have been contributing factors, officials said on Thursday (Jun 18).

Their preliminary report comes as the country's capital tackles a resurgence of COVID-19 cases over the past week linked to the massive Xinfadi food centre, which houses warehouses and trading halls in an area the size of nearly 160 soccer pitches.

The latest outbreak infected more than 100 people and raised fears of wider contagion in China.

READ: China says it must improve hygiene in markets after Beijing COVID-19 outbreak

Among the patients who work at the Xinfadi market, most serve at seafood and aquatic product stalls, followed by the beef and mutton section, and patients from the seafood market showed symptoms earlier than others, Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a daily briefing on Thursday.

Low temperatures favourable to viral survival as well as high humidity might be possible explanations for why seafood markets could be a source of outbreaks based on a preliminary assessment, Wu said, cautioning that further investigation was necessary.

China has halted imports from European salmon suppliers this week amid fears they may be linked to the recent outbreak in Beijing.

Health officials have also warned against eating raw salmon after the virus was discovered on chopping boards usedRead More – Source

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