EXTRA: China says frozen chicken from Brazil tested positive for COVID-19

The authorities of the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen have urged consumers to be on the alert when buying imported frozen food after a sample of chicken wings from Brazil tested positive for COVID-19.

According to a statement on Thursday, the coronavirus was discovered after the local disease control centres took a surface sample from a batch of chicken wings while conducting routine screenings on imported frozen food.

“On August 11th, Shenzhen Longgang District conducted investigation and inspection of imported cold-chain food. On August 12th, the provincial and municipal CDCs reviewed and found a surface sample of frozen chicken wings imported from Brazil (registration number: SIF601; batch number: 7720051522) The new coronavirus nucleic acid test result was positive,” the statement read.

Shenzhen’s health authorities also traced and tested everyone who might have been exposed to the products.

“The results were all negative, and close contacts of positive samples were included in health management; all relevant stock products in the city were sealed and carried out Nucleic acid test results are all negative,” it added.

“All products sold are traced and notified to relevant agencies for disposal; the outer packaging and storage environment of relevant products are all eliminated.”

The development comes at about the same time when traces of the coronavirus were found on the packaging of shrimps imported from Ecuador, another South American country.

“It is hard to say at which stage the frozen chicken got infected,” Reuters quoted a China-based official at a Brazilian meat exporter to have said.

The Chinese authorities have been stepping up screenings at ports since June, after a coronavirus outbreak emerged from the largest wholesale food market in Beijing.