Chinese Authorities Claim New COVID-19 Cases Stem From Imported Food Products

People are lining up to take COVID-19 tests at a makeshift testing center in Dalian, in China's northeast Liaoning Province on July 26, 2020. STR/AFP via Getty Images

The Chinese regime is blaming other countries for the latest COVID-19 cases in China, an analyst points out. Local authorities claim that frozen food products imported from other countries were contaminated with the CCP virus (novel coronavirus), which causes COVID-19.

China’s National Health Commission reported on its website that between Nov. 8 and Nov. 17, there were 152 COVID-19 cases imported from overseas, accounting for 96.8 percent of the new total 157 cases reported by authorities in Shandong, Hubei, Fujian, Gansu, Henan, and other provinces.

In Lanzhou city, Gansu Province, health authorities reported that one sample from a batch of frozen shrimps tested positive for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus on Nov. 13. The seafood was stored in Jiaojialing Refrigeration Plant in Chengguan district and imported from Tianjin Port. Other products at the plant tested negative.

Local authorities claimed that the frozen shrimps were originally from Saudi Arabia.

Screenshot of a video clip showing people lining up for COVID-19 testing at a checkpoint in Yanliang district, Xi'an city, Shaanxi Province, on Nov. 15. Provided by The Epoch Times

On the same day, the local Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Zhengzhou city, Henan Province claimed that five samples from a batch of frozen pork imported from Argentina were contaminated.

The frozen pork totaled 24 tons, including 1,303 pieces of meat, and was delivered to the city on Nov. 11 from Qingdao Port, Shandong Province. The batch was tested for the virus before the pork products were distributed to the local market.

In southeast Fujian Province, the health commission of  Xiamen city reported on Nov. 15 that the outer packaging of frozen pork imported from France contained traces of the CCP virus. The meat was stored at a local refrigerated warehouse and 25 tons of pork was unused before the discovery.

Experts have said that food products are not known to spread the virus. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says there is “no evidence” to suggest food is associated with spreading the virus. The World Health Organization (WHO) says it is not necessary to disinfect food packaging materials.

The Chinese regime is also known to underreport COVID-19 cases in order to downplay any crisis; thus, it’s difficult to assess the true scale of the situation.

China affairs commentator Tian Yun noted: “All these instances suggest that the virus is far from over. The pandemic must be getting worse.”

Political commentator Lan Shu, in an interview with The Epoch Times’ affiliate NTD (New Tang Dynasty Television) said: “The CCP is covering up its botched handling of COVID-19 by shifting the blame on other countries. Also, it diverts the attention of the public and misleads them into believing that China is the safest place in the world.”

Lan added: “The CCP has been consistent in proclaiming that the outbreaks stem from abroad. It [CCP] claims that is the incoming visitors that have brought the infections into China.”

“The people were told to trust the Chinese government and the CCP. In fact, they [Chinese citizens] are brainwashed and don’t realize the danger of the pandemic,” he concluded.