Editorial: Put Covid 19 coronavirus cool store, frozen food safety messages on ice

Health Minister Chris Hipkins said officials were checking whether the coronavirus arrived via frozen goods. This was finally ruled out yesterday. File photo / Glenn Jeffrey

EDITORIAL:

Whether the implication of a cool store in New Zealand's cluster of Covid-19 cases was a genuine concern, we may never be certain.

Either way, some of the messages imparted over Auckland's latest cluster will have left some needlessly wary around our food supplies.

So, to be clear, can the Covid-19 coronavirus survive in cold storage facilities? Yes, it can, according to several confirmed cases.

Officials in the Chinese city of Shenzhen warned the public to take precautions after a sample taken from Brazilian frozen chicken wings were reportedly found to have been contaminated by coronavirus. Samples from packaging of frozen shrimp from Ecuador, sold in Xian, also tested positive for the virus.

Perhaps on this basis, it was prudent for New Zealand authorities to take a good, long look at the potential involvement of the workplace a confirmed case had visited.

"We do know from studies overseas, that actually, the virus can survive in some refrigerated environments for quite some time," director general of health Ashley Bloomfield told reporters.

"One of the things we are testing is whether it came in on frozen goods," Health Minister Chris Hipkins told Mike Hosking, referring to the coolstore in Mt Wellington.

Fair enough. It seems the virus, or at least traces of it, can survive on frozen items. But, and this is a very big but, there's as yet no evidence of it being transmitted to people from these situations.

Having previously stated it was "highly unlikely that people can contract Covid-19 from food or food packaging", the World Health Organisation (WHO) was compelled to reiterate the message this week.

"People should not fear food, or food packaging or processing or delivery of food," WHO's head of emergencies programme Mike Ryan told a briefing in Geneva.

This has been borne out on the ground in China. Test results for any who might have had contact with the chicken wings in Shenzhen came back negative, a statement from the municipal government said.

Whether New Zealand officials were aware of the highly unlikely scenario of transmission from a coolstore or not, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told Patricia Karvelas, of Australia's ABC 24 News, a "reliable source" had informed him the outbreak occurred via a quarantine breach. Somehow Peters was able to rule out frozen goods.

Responding to a persistent but patently false claim of a quarantine breach doing the rounds on social media, Hipkins issued a plea to New Zealanders: "Please New Zealanders, think twice before sharing unverified information."

Would that the minister and his officials heed the same plea.

As the WHO's head of emergencies programme Mike Ryan said: "I would hate to think that we would create an impression that there's a problem with our food or there's a problem with our food chains.

"There is no evidence that food or the food chain is participating in transmission of this virus. And people should feel comfortable and safe."

Casting unfounded suspicions on our food supply could lead to people feeling anything but comfortable or safe.