COVID-19: Ice Cream Tests Positive For Coronavirus In China

• About 4,836 boxes of the ice cream have been contaminated

• Authorities to place the company’s 1,662 employees under quarantine

Authorities in China say they have discovered vestige of the virulent COVID-19 in ice cream produced by a company in Tianjin municipality located in north-eastern part of the Asian country.

Local Chinese media reports that at least three samples of the locally produced ice cream were found to be contaminated with the virus.

Health authorities have allayed the fear of the public, saying those at risk of being infected are being traced.

About 4,836 boxes of the ice cream, produced by the Tianjin Daqiaodao Food Company, were said to have been contaminated, of which 2,089 have now been sealed in storage.

However, 935 out of the 2,747 boxes of the ice cream that entered the market were said to be in Tianjin with only 65 sold so far.

Early epidemiological investigations showed that the company used raw materials including milk powder imported from New Zealand and whey powder from Ukraine in producing the batch of ice cream.

Stephen Griffin, a virologist based at the University of Leeds, doused the tension spurred by the development, saying such occurrence was not often.

“It’s likely this has come from a person, and without knowing the details, I think this is probably a one-off,” Griffin told sky news

“Of course, any level of contamination is not acceptable and always a cause for concern, but the chances are that this is the result of an issue with the production plant and potentially down to hygiene at the factory.”

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The development has prompted authorities to place the company’s 1,662 employees under quarantine while they were also subjected to acidic testing as directed by the Tianjin center for disease control.