It’s been confirmed that salmon from Norway was not the source of coronavirus found on cutting boards at a Beijing wholesale food market.
The Norwegian Seafood Council’s Director in China, Victoria Braathen, has reported back on a press conference there yesterday.
“We currently have no evidence to suggest that salmon is the host or intermediate host of the coronavirus,” said Shi Guoqing, deputy director of the Emergency Center of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Norwegian Seafood Council said cases of Covid-19 had caused speculation in the value chain, but they wished to reassure consumers and buyers of their products’ safety.
Beijing has seen a spike of 137 cases in the city of 20 million people
The Xinfadi wholesale market supplies 80% of Beijing’s vegetables and meat and is used by tens of thousands of people a day. It has been closed following a spike in Covid-19 infections.
Beijing had essentially eradicated local transmission of the virus, but in recent days has added 137 cases in the city of 20 million people.
More than 10,000 people from the market – which remains shut – will be tested, and the premises disinfected. Health officials are asking people who visited the market to come forward for testing.
The spike has caused fears of a possible second wave of Covid-19 infections.
China stopped importing European salmon after reports on Saturday that the virus was found on equipment used for handling fish at Xinfadi market, and Beijing supermarkets removed salmon from their shelves.
In 2019, around 23,500 tonnes of salmon from Norway was exported to China, worth around US$170,000. So far this year, 9,600 tonnes has been exported to China, five percent less than for the same time last year.
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