exist-longer-in-lower-tempe

An expert pointed out low temperature may prolong the time COVID-19 virus exists as China reports several infection cases traced back to cold chain logistics.

An expert pointed out low temperature may prolong the time COVID-19 virus exists as China reports several infection cases traced back to cold chain logistics, Xinhua News Agency reported.

“COVID-19 virus may live up to 21 days at a low-temperature environment as we observed,” Liu Yu, member of the national COVID-19 expert team of the National Health Committee, “The longer it lives, more chance people will get infected.”

Liu led a team collecting data on global COVID-19 infection numbers and the correlation between the infection number and the temperature. “The research shows the infection cases increase 0.3 percent when the temperature drops every one degree Celsius,” said Liu.

The research findings may raise concerns on if the products transported via cold chain are safe to consume as the country sees a growing market in imported fresh or frozen products as the Spring Festival is around the corner.

Data from e-commerce platform JD.com. showed the revenue of imported cherry from January 9 to 25 increased 282 percent year on year, while imported frozen seafood jumped 200 percent.

The expert said to halt all cold-chain imports is impossible as many products such as fresh produce, meat and seafood highly depend on cold-chain service.

“If we stop the international cold-chain service, the business will shut down,” said Qin Yuming, secretary-general of the Cold Chain Logistics Committee of the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing. “Massive resources would go waste, and about 300,000 industry workers would have no job to do, causing a big crash to the economy and the industry.”

Liu said there’s a quite low chance for consumers to get infected by consuming the products from cold chain services.

“The infection risks come from the process of loading and unloading the products,” Ke Rui, a representative in the medical business of JD ColdChain, a logistic company under JD.com.

Ke said disinfection on the cold-chain product package cover can effectively decrease the risk of the virus spreading. Liu advised to purchase cold-chain products from official and qualified marketplaces and avoid to consuming it raw.

“It will much help avoid related illness,” Ke said.

Source: CGTN

By Web Team

Technology Times Web team handles all matters relevant to website posting and management.