The BBC looks at how traces of the coronavirus were reportedly found on packaging in China recently, on consignments of frozen shrimp and frozen chicken wings from South America.
This has raised questions about whether coronavirus can be transmitted via food packaging.
Laboratory-based studies have shown that the virus can survive for hours, if not days, on some packaging materials – mostly cardboard and various forms of plastic. And the virus is more stable at lower temperatures, which is how many foods are transported.
However, some scientists have questioned whether these results could be replicated outside the lab.
The transmission risk is generally based on the assumption that workers in food packaging plants might touch contaminated surfaces, then touch their eyes, nose and mouth.
Scientists do not now think this is the main route of transmission for most Covid-19 cases.
