Given that imported cherries have tested positive for COVID-19 in multiple regions across the country recently and caused concern among the public, an infectious disease expert assured the public that there is a very low risk of infection from eating imported fruits.
Samples taken from the packaging of a batch of imported cherries from Chile tested positive for the coronavirus in a supermarket in Songshan district of Chifeng, in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region during regular checks of imported foods in the city on Monday.
The batch of 339 packages of cherries had been directedly transported to the cold storage of the supermarket but were not put on the shelves, according to the local center for disease control and prevention.
The epidemiological investigation, personnel tracking and environment disinfection processes have all been launched, with testing results from all practitioners and related environment coming back negative.
Cases of imported cherries testing positive for COVID-19 have been reported across the country recently including in cities such as Wuxi in East China's Jiangsu Province, Shijiazhuang in North China's Hebei Province and cities in East China's Jiangxi Province. These cases have caused concern among the public and resulted in demand plummeting.
With regards to the frequent positive nucleic acid test results of imported cherries, Gong Zhenyu, deputy director of the infectious disease prevention and control center at the Zhejiang Province Center for Disease Control and Prevention assured the public at a press briefing on Monday that the risk of becoming infected by eating imported fruits, such as cherries, is very low.
"Live viruses, dead viruses and virus fragments can all test positive when nucleic acid tests are conducted, thus positive nucleic acid test results do not necessarily represent the presence of a live virus nor infectiousness," said Gong, noting that fruit is kept at higher temperatures than cold-chain foods such as frozen fish, and even if contaminated, the virus tends to live for shorter periods of time when on fruit.
Three factors are important when examining the transmission of the coronavirus via fruit: whether or not a live virus is present; how much live virus is present; and how much someone is exposed to the live virus.
In regards to nucleic acid monitoring on foods and their packaging across the country, the overall rates of positive test results and overall contagious levels are both very low, Gong said.
