China came up with a new ice cream that nobody wants to try.
Recently, during routine government tests, three samples from a North China ice cream company tested positive for COVID-19.
Officials now believe that 4,836 boxes of ice cream may have been contaminated – more than half of which had already been distributed for sale when the test results were released, Sky News reported on Friday.
Only 2,089 boxes of ice cream could be confiscated in time, the report said.
The ice cream was produced by Tianjin Daqiaodao Food Company, where 1,662 employees were tested on Thursday and were in quarantine.
Dr. Stephen Griffin, a virologist at the University of Leeds, UK, told the channel that an infected person probably contaminated the flocks.
“It is clear that any level of contamination is not acceptable and always causes concern, but the chances are that it is the result of a problem with the production plant and potentially due to hygiene at the factory,” he said.
Griffin explained that the virus may have survived in the product due to the cold temperature and fat from the ice cream.
He also asked the public not to panic about the accident.
“We probably don’t need to panic, thinking that each piece of ice cream will suddenly become contaminated with coronavirus,” added Griffin.
Authorities said those who may have bought the ice cry should report their situation so that the health department can track potential cases.