After town of Beijing introduced its first case of the Omicron variant, Chinese language officers alleged that the virus might have travelled to town by way of a bit of mail from Canada—a declare specialists say does not add up.
“This doesn’t sound credible in any respect,” Dr. Colin Furness, an professional in infectious illness epidemiology from the College of Toronto, instructed CTVNews.ca in an e mail, noting that floor transmission of COVID-19 by way of worldwide mail is very unbelievable.
The Beijing Middle for Illness Prevention and Management (CDC) mentioned that town reported one case of the COVID-19 variant on Saturday in a 26-year-old girl. After conducting contact tracing, officers mentioned the lady didn’t journey exterior the capital and had not are available in contact with anybody else with the virus.
Nevertheless, the Beijing CDC says it examined the lady’s mail, which included a letter despatched on Jan. 7 from Canada, arriving in Beijing three days later through the USA and Hong Kong.
Officers allege that piece of mail had traces of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This contains samples taken from the paper contained in the envelope, although the lady mentioned she had solely touched the outer floor of the package deal.
“The potential of contracting the virus by way of overseas gadgets can’t be dominated out,” the Beijing CDC mentioned in a translated information launch.
However Furness says it is extremely unlikely that the virus might survive for that many days in transit.
“COVID’s potential to outlive on paper relies upon partly on the roughness of the paper. Nevertheless it’s unlikely to persist in an lively state for greater than a day or two. Excessive friction with different paperwork in a mailbag makes survival of even a day appear unlikely,” he mentioned.
College of Saskatchewan epidemiologist Dr. Nazeem Muhajarine additionally calls the claims “bewildering.”
“I might ask whether or not the ‘officers’ who claimed this have dominated out all different extra believable exposures to Omicron. Are these supposed viral particles remoted and examined viable? Is there any impartial verification?” Muhajarine mentioned in an e mail to CTVNews.ca.
“For this declare to hold any credibility, so many distinctive issues must line up.”
The Beijing CDC is encouraging residents to put on gloves whereas dealing with packages, disinfect packaging with alcohol and keep away from shopping for items from abroad if potential.
Nevertheless, Muhajarine says that stories of transmission of COVID-19 by way of surfaces are “exceedingly uncommon.”
“We now know that this virus transmits most readily by way of the air through aerosolized means. Even then, it’s possible that Omicron doesn’t keep its viability to contaminate days after it’s launched into the air,” he mentioned.
The one case in Beijing has been recognized on the worst potential time for town, because it prepares to welcome 1000’s of athletes for the Olympics — together with from international locations the place Omicron is raging.
Furness additionally notes that geopolitics could also be part of why Chinese language authorities are pointing the finger at Canada.
“Sino-Canadian relations are in poor form, and China could also be very eager to counter accusations that it contaminated the world, with these types of narratives,” he mentioned.
With recordsdata from The Related Press
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