Ice cream has tested positive for coronavirus in China and left health authorities scrambling to trace people at risk of infection according to a report by The Daily Mail.
Three samples of locally-produced ice cream were found to be contaminated in the Tianjin municipality, in the northeast of the country.
Some 4,836 boxes have been identified as contaminated by the Tianjin Daqiaodao Food Company, of which 2,089 have now been sealed in storage.
Shoppers who picked up one of the 450g boxes, using milk powder from Ukraine and Whey from New Zealand, were urged by health officials to record their movements so potential infections could be tracked.
The 1,662 company employees have been ordered into self-isolation and underwent testing on Friday.
However, Dr Stephen Griffin, a virologist based at the University of Leeds, said the ice cream’s positive test likely derived from human contact and was a ‘one-off’.
He further said that the ice cream was made with fat and was stored at cold temperatures, which would make it easy for the virus to have survived.
Putting the minds of the people at ease, he said: “The chances are that this is the result of an issue with the production plant and potentially down to hygiene at the factory.
“We probably don’t need to panic that every bit of ice cream is suddenly going to be contaminated with coronavirus.”
The second wave of Coronavirus has been spreading so fast with so many lives lost. The global advocacy is for people to use masks, avoid crowded places, and sanitise their hands often.
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