Is A Frozen Shipment The Source Of New Zealand’s New Outbreak?
Because of the country's tight restrictions, local transmissions were ruled out as the cause of four new cases. Puzzled public health officials are now surface testing imported freight.
Reuters:
New Zealand Considers Freight As Possible Source Of New Coronavirus Cluster
New Zealand officials are investigating the possibility that its first COVID-19 cases in more than three months were imported by freight, as the country’s biggest city plunged back into lockdown on Wednesday. ... Investigations were zeroing in on the potential the virus was imported by freight. [Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield] said surface testing was underway at an Auckland cool store where a man from the infected family worked. “We know the virus can survive within refrigerated environments for quite some time,” Bloomfield said during a televised media conference. (Menon, 8/11)
In related news —
Vice:
Authorities In China Are Detecting Coronavirus On Frozen Seafood
It’s been over six months since COVID-19 cases were first reported but experts are still in the process of understanding the novel coronavirus. While it is believed to spread mainly from person to person through droplets and direct contact, the virus can also contaminate pets and objects. The amount of time the virus can live on surfaces varies depending on the environment, but at least two instances show that it can last long enough to survive shipments of frozen imported goods. (Miyano, 8/12)
Tech Times:
Chinese Frozen Seafood Product Found With SARS-CoV-2 Strains, Possibly Exported
Experts found SARS-CoV-2 strains-- the virus that leads to Coronavirus-- in frozen batches of seafood products in the eastern Chinese port city of Yantai, as reported via South China Morning Post. ... So far, the United States government has not yet released any statements regarding this possible issue. But, it was concluded by the country's health expert that food packaging contamination "is thought to be very low." (8/11)
