China has come up with a new ice cream that no one wants to try.
Recently, during routine government tests, three samples from an ice cream company in northern China returned positive for COVID-19.
Officials now believe 4,836 boxes of ice cream could have been contaminated – more than half of which have already been distributed for sale when test results return, Sky News reported on Friday.
Only 2,089 cans of ice cream could be confiscated in time, the report said.
The ice cream was produced by Tianjin Daqiaodao Food Company, where the 1,662 employees were tested on Thursday and were in quarantine.
Dr Stephen Griffin, a virologist at the University of Leeds in the UK, told the media that an infected person was most likely to have contaminated the batches.
“Of course, any level of contamination is not acceptable and is always a cause for concern, but chances are this is the result of a problem with the production plant and possibly factory hygiene,” he said.
Griffin explained that the virus could have survived in the product due to the cold temperature and the fat of the ice cream.
He also urged the public not to panic following the accident.
“We probably shouldn’t panic that every piece of ice cream will be suddenly contaminated with coronavirus,” Griffin added.
Officials said those who could have bought the scream of ice should report their condition so the health department can track potential cases.