Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Health authorities in Yantai (Shandong) have confirmed that they have found traces of coronavirus in frozen seafood packages. This is not the first outbreak linked to the frozen fish industry in the port city in the east of the country. Two others have recently been discovered in Beijing and Dalian (Liaoning).
China is currently considered the epicenter of the pandemic. Recently, the government has confirmed the resumption of the infection in several provinces. Yesterday 25 new cases of infection were reported, mainly concentrated in Xinjiang. To date, 84,737 people have contracted the lung disease; with over 4,660 deaths.
The infected seafood was found in the Yantai Economic Development Zone. Workers in contact with contaminated packaging tested negative but are still in quarantine.
City officials said the fish consignment was unloaded from a foreign ship in the port of Dalian. A small part of the cargo was processed and re-exported; the remaining one is stored in a warehouse.
According to the Chinese Center for the Control and Prevention of Infectious Diseases, the original outbreak in Wuhan (Hubei) had similar traits with those related to the processing of frozen fish. For the US health authorities and for several virologists, the risk of contracting the virus from frozen fish is very low, even more so if it is imported after a long journey.
