Health

China to test overseas parcels for coronavirus infection

Beijing, Mar 1 (EFE).- All overseas mails and packages would be subjected to the acid nucleic tests in China, state-run courier service has said, as health authorities suspect that contaminated foreign parcels were spreading Omicron variant of the coronavirus in the country.

In a statement on social media networks, China Post said it would be another barrier to prevent the Covid-19 spread.

A China Post official in Inner Mongolia (north) told state-run CCTV that packages shipped from overseas would be delivered 14 to 20 hours after a negative test result for the virus.

The official said all such packages would be disinfected and then isolated for 24 hours before opening them and testing their contents after consent from their recipients.

China maintains a “zero tolerance” policy for Covid-19 and has kept its borders practically shut.

Health officials attributed some outbreaks in recent weeks to suspected contaminated packages from abroad.

China has blamed its first Omicron case in Beijing on a mail from Canada, sparking caution.

Global experts have dismissed the Chinese suspicion that infection is possible through contact with contaminated mail or frozen products since the virus could not survive such a long time on surfaces.

According to the National Health Commission of China, the country has accumulated 109,526 Covid-19 infections and 4,636 deaths since the pandemic began.

Some 200 people, including 75 locals, tested positive over the past day. EFE

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