The Chinese civil aviation sector, ports and freight transportation agencies have escalated measures for imported shipments to minimize the risk of infection, given recent cases showing the coronavirus has spread from cold-chain storage facilities and cargo transportation. Experts warned that the environment of containers in transit could be similar to that of the cold-chain system.
The agencies require real-name registration and health monitoring of ground personnel who are in direct contact with imported goods, and ways to ensure that imported goods and other goods are not mixed together during transportation and loading, to minimize the risk of crossover infection.
Officials from the Civil Aviation Administration of China said the move is aimed at preventing outbreaks over the coming winter and spring.
Some ports and freight transportation agencies on Thursday said that Chinese ports in cities such as Tianjin and Suzhou had adopted detailed measures for imported shipments to reduce risks brought by the overseas pandemic.
On Thursday, imported frozen products including beef and fish, which tested positive for novel coronavirus in Tianjin ports, were circulating in the markets of multiple cities.
Contaminated imported frozen beef handled via Tianjin was discovered in the markets of Ningshan county, Shaanxi Province. Some batches of beef had already been sold to local restaurants, and local health authorities were tracking people who had contact with the contaminated beef in any form and asking them to take nucleic acid tests.
Suide in North China's Shaanxi Province detected a batch of hairtail that tested positive for coronavirus, which was transported from Tianjin. A shop in Shaanxi's Ankang city purchased and sold contaminated frozen beef transported from Tianjin. Local health authorities are carrying out epidemiological studies to track people for tests.
On Wednesday, Huozhou in North China's Shanxi found packages of imported green shrimp from Ecuador tested positive for coronavirus.
Wu Zunyou, the chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a Wednesday media briefing that the environments of containers in transit could be similar to the cold-chain process, causing sporadic or even local outbreaks. As winter approaches, whether by air, land or sea, the ambient temperature is the same as that of the cold chain system.