This week in the port city of Xiamen on China’s southeast coast near Taiwan, about 5 million people had to undergo a mass test for coronavirus due to about forty positive cases. However, as early as July, the local authorities had ordered not only the town’s fishermen to be tested, but also the fish caught every day: it is a measure imposed as part of the so-called “zero Covid strategy” aimed at the Preventing the spread of viruses through mass testing and strict restrictions, which has understandably led to several confusions.
According to the rules established by the administration of Jimei, the district where Xiamen is located, all people working on the fishing boats must be vaccinated and swabbed daily upon returning to port to confirm the presence of the coronavirus check over. Although scientists say it’s unlikely that fish can transmit the coronavirus, testing is also needed on animals, the local government said. This activity would serve to rule out the presence of the virus, which could be “imported” into China through contacts. with foreign fishermen in buying and selling fish products.
In recent days, many videos have been shared on various social networks – including Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok – of health workers sticking long cotton swabs in the mouths of dead fish to take biological samples, or dissipating them on the abdomen and legs of crayfish.
A hashtag linked to fish coronavirus testing has been viewed 120 million times on Weibo, the most popular social network in China. So far, however, there has been no news of cases of infection in the animals tested.
Many users on social media have wondered why “this kind of test on animals that don’t even have lungs” and whether fish and crabs should also be isolated if they test positive. Others, however, said they appreciated the measure, arguing that it was useful for public safety.
The Xiamen agency, which deals with the development of fisheries, has announced that it has taken Hainan, the island province in south China, as a model, where a major outbreak is currently taking place, which local authorities said may be due to some contacts between Locals is attributed and foreign fishermen.
Still with the “zero Covid strategy” in mind, the fish were partially tested alive even during the very tough lockdown that began in Shanghai in March. In June 2020, at the start of the pandemic, a salmon panic had swept through Beijing due to some cases of coronavirus linked to a fish counter’s cutting board used for salmon imported from abroad, a version later confirmed by disputed by the same authorities that originally proposed it.
catch of the day Whether young or old, fish or crab – China’s zero-Covid policy and the nucleic acid tests cannot be avoided. pic.twitter.com/stoqsGyYf1
– Manya Koetse (@manyapan) August 17, 2022
Researchers in China have observed that the coronavirus can survive in some cases in frozen foods, on packaging and other refrigerated products, and have attributed some cases of infection to imported products, although with what type of contact and duration it is not clear. Among other things, both the US government agency that deals with food and drug safety and regulation (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the main public health regulator in the United States, said, not enough evidence to show that food or packaging could be sources of transmission of the virus to humans.
– Also read: The “zero COVID” strategy has hurt China