HONG KONG (Reuters), HK authorities claimed they have found COVID-19 within samples of frozen Brazilian beef and Polish pork skin imported from Hong Kong. The officials pledged to intensify inspections of all imports.

A “dynamic zero COVID strategy” similar to the one used by mainland China is employed at the global financial center. It aims to end all outbreaks. A new wave of infection is making it harder for authorities to contain.

The daily infection numbers rose sharply in this year’s first quarter, surpassing the capacity of government testing and hospital facilities.

For testing, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS), took 36 samples from approximately 1,100 frozen beef cartons. The batch weighed 29 tonnes and was imported by sea from Brazil. One outer and two inner packaging samples were positive.

Also, 12 samples were taken from 300 boxes of frozen pork skin. The batch weighed approximately 7 tonnes and was imported from Poland by sea. One inner packaging sample tested positive for COVID-19.

The government released a statement on Monday late that night, saying “The CFS ordered importers to dispose of the beef skin and pork skin from the same batches.” CFS will increase sampling of similar products to test.

Hong Kong monitored frozen food imports to COVID-19 from mid-2020. They found positive samples in August 2021 on fish packaging and November 2021 on cuttlefish packaging.

COVID-19, according to the authorities is transmitted primarily through drops and can not multiply in food or packaging. Therefore it cannot be passed on to people via food intake.

They recommend that raw foods be handled separately and adhere to hygiene guidelines.

Hong Kong follows the example of mainland China in implementing COVID-19 policies by intensifying inspections of imports. China, unlike other countries, cites the danger of COVID-19 spreading through frozen food packaging.

Mainland China announced that the virus was found in chilled food packages. This led to complaints and rejections from importers. The World Health Organization states that neither packaging nor food are considered to be transmission routes.