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China Says COVID-19 Was Found on Chilean Seafood Packaging

The country halted imports of the products after the startling find.

China is warning that the COVID-19 virus has been detected on the packaging of Chilean seafood products, Bloomberg News reports. The General Administration of Customs announced in a statement on Saturday that the virus was found on the packaging of a frozen crab product in a nucleic acid test. Imports from the Chilean producer in question were subsequently halted. While China has been vigilant in weeding out imported products found to contain traces of the pathogen, experts have said the virus likely does not spread as easily from surfaces as initially thought. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said the coronavirus can survive for a short period on surfaces such as packaging, but it is mainly spread by respiratory droplets.