Coronavirus: Frozen meat, fish in Wuhan test positive for virus

Chinese health authorities said that two imported frozen food packaging samples have tested positive for Covid-19 in Hubei province's capital city of Wuhan, where the novel coronavirus is likely to have originated in December 2019.

In a statement on Sunday, the city's health commission said that the samples were taken from a batch of frozen meat imported from Brazil and a batch of frozen beef from Uruguay, reports Xinhua news agency.

Local authorities have taken emergency measures to seal the imported frozen goods and disinfect the storage facilities and the surrounding environment.

The frozen meat imports consisting of 1,527 boxes and weighing 27.49 tonnes were shipped from Brazil to Shanghai on June 28.

They were transported from Shanghai to Wuhan on July 27 and stored at a local cold storage on July 29.

The frozen beef contained in 1,210 boxes, weighing 26.93 tonnes, was shipped to Tianjin Municipality on March 2.

It reached Wuhan on March 28.

The nucleic acid test results of 511 samples from the cold storage, 460 samples from the frozen food packaging and 524 samples from local employees were all negative.

Earlier on November 28, Wuhan's health commission had confirmed that three imported frozen food packaging samples had tested positive for Covid-19.