China Claims "COVID-19 Caused by Imported Frozen Food"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Chinese experts have claimed that COVID-19 may have entered China through the importation of foreign frozen food products.

According to Chinese news agencies on the 31st, Ma Huilai, head of the epidemiology education program at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, stated in an interview with Chinese media, "the initial outbreak of COVID-19 originating from the Wuhan seafood market may have been caused by the import of 'cold chain' (a method of distributing food by freezing or refrigerating) agricultural and aquatic products."

Ma focused on the fact that before the COVID-19 cluster infections occurred at Beijing's Xinfadi market and a seafood company in Dalian in June and July last year, there had been no community infection cases for 56 consecutive days in Beijing and 111 consecutive days in Dalian.

Regarding the infection cases in Beijing and Dalian, the central and local Chinese governments conducted a joint investigation. They examined possible sources of infection through virus nucleic acid and serological antibody tests, investigated the distribution routes of imported cold chain food products, and performed viral genetic sequencing analysis on confirmed patients and cold chain agricultural and aquatic products that tested positive for COVID-19.

As a result, Ma stated that it was proven that the virus was introduced into China through cold chains from other countries or regions.

He also reported that during the investigation into the origin of the COVID-19 outbreak in Qingdao in October last year, live COVID-19 virus was isolated from the outer packaging of cold chain products.

Subsequent epidemiological investigations of community infection cases occurring in various parts of China repeatedly confirmed that COVID-19 can be transmitted over long distances via cold chain routes.

Ma explained, "It has also been proven that once the virus enters special places such as seafood markets or seafood processing companies, it can trigger explosive community infections."

Furthermore, Ma noted that a common characteristic observed in COVID-19 infection and spread cases at more than 30 large meat plants, slaughterhouses, and seafood processing factories distributed worldwide in the first half of last year was the possibility that the virus was introduced through cold chain transportation.

Ma stated, "This evidence shows that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the virus could newly enter countries and regions where the disease had not yet broken out through routes such as the import of cold chain food products," and added, "It suggests the possibility that the COVID-19 virus that emerged at Wuhan's Huanan seafood market at the end of 2019 was introduced via cold chains."

Ma's claims ultimately support the Chinese government's position that COVID-19 did not first originate at a Wuhan laboratory or the Wuhan seafood market, and can be interpreted as a rebuttal to U.S. pressure for origin investigations.

Earlier, China had identified foreign frozen imported foods as a source of COVID-19 infection and repeatedly suspended imports. In November last year, China's state-run Global Times reported that COVID-19 virus was found on the packaging of frozen foods such as Brazilian beef, German pig's feet, and Saudi shrimp, and based on this, suggested that the COVID-19 virus first discovered at Wuhan's Huanan seafood market may have entered China through the importation of foreign frozen foods.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.