Ice cream in China has tested positive for the Coronavirus.
The Daqiaodao Food Company Ltd located in Tianjiin, China has been sealed and 1,600 employees have been placed in quarantine and are being tested for Covid-19.
It is reported that as the virus thrives in cold environments it was able to survive in the ice cream and it is believed that the virus was transferred to the ice cream through an infected person.
More than 4,800 boxes of ice cream were affected. Initial investigations show the firm produced the batches of ice cream using raw materials, which included whey powder imported from Ukraine and milk powder imported from New Zealand.
Authorities in China’s Tianjin Municipality have said that a total of 935 Covid-positives boxes of the ice cream out of 2,747 boxes that had entered the market were in the city and of those only 65 had been sold to markets.
Previously it was disclaimed by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) that the spread of coronavirus could be contained by avoiding ice cream.
Another misinformation urging people to avoid ice creams to prevent #Coronavirus is #Fake. #PIBFactCheck: There is no evidence from the current #CoronavirusOutbreak which states that avoiding ice cream can help prevent the onset of the disease. pic.twitter.com/OhlhGc33xf
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) March 16, 2020
On March 17, on Twitter PIB posted: “Another misinformation urging people to avoid ice creams to prevent #Coronavirus is #Fake
#PIBFactCheck: There is no evidence from the current #CoronavirusOutbreak which states that avoiding ice cream can help prevent the onset of the disease.
The spread of coronavirus through ice cream has previously been denounced as a “fake message”
Following the surge in alleged “fake messages” including the possible claims that ice cream could spread the coronavirus, the Supreme Court on March 31, asked the Centre to set up a portal that would disseminate real time information on the pandemic to avoid possible panic being spread through the “fake news.”
However the discovery of the contaminated ice cream shouldn’t be cause for “panic” Dr Stephen Griffin, a virologist based at the University of Leeds told Sky News. ‘It’s likely this has come from a person, and without knowing the details, I think this is probably a one-off,’ he said.