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Did Omicron arrive in China’s capital Beijing by mail from Canada?
Published: 3:19pm, 17 Jan, 2022
Omicron could have entered the Chinese capital Beijing via contaminated mail from Canada, the city’s Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said on Monday.
Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the Beijing CDC, said the city’s first Covid-19 patient to be diagnosed with the Omicron variant had received a letter mailed from Canada on January 7.
“We do not rule out the possibility that the person was infected through contacting an object from overseas,” she said.
Chinese authorities have repeatedly said they are finding the coronavirus on contaminated imports, usually frozen goods. Some researchers and health authorities overseas have raised doubts this method of transmission, arguing the virus does not survive long enough on surfaces.
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The Beijing CDC said residents should minimise their purchases of goods from overseas and wear masks and gloves when opening mail from high risk countries. It recommended letters and packages should be opened outside the home and sanitised.
Did Omicron arrive in China’s capital Beijing by mail from Canada?
- City’s first case of the Covid-19 variant received a letter from Toronto which had traces of the virus, health authorities say
- Canada’s public health agency and other experts around the world say there is low risk of spreading through goods or packages
Published: 3:19pm, 17 Jan, 2022
Omicron could have entered the Chinese capital Beijing via contaminated mail from Canada, the city’s Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said on Monday.
Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the Beijing CDC, said the city’s first Covid-19 patient to be diagnosed with the Omicron variant had received a letter mailed from Canada on January 7.
“We do not rule out the possibility that the person was infected through contacting an object from overseas,” she said.
Chinese authorities have repeatedly said they are finding the coronavirus on contaminated imports, usually frozen goods. Some researchers and health authorities overseas have raised doubts this method of transmission, arguing the virus does not survive long enough on surfaces.
...
The Beijing CDC said residents should minimise their purchases of goods from overseas and wear masks and gloves when opening mail from high risk countries. It recommended letters and packages should be opened outside the home and sanitised.
