A new ice cream has come to China that no one wants to try.
Recently, during routine government testing, three samples from an ice cream company in northern China tested positive for COVID-19.
Officials now believe 4,836 boxes of ice cream could have been contaminated, more than half of which had already been distributed for sale when test results returned, Sky News reported Friday.
Only 2,089 boxes of ice cream could be confiscated on time, according to the report.
The ice cream was produced by the 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 dam that an infected person was likely to contaminate the batches.
“Of course, any level of contamination is not acceptable and is always a cause for concern, but this is likely to be the result of a problem with the production plant and potentially in the hygiene of the factory,” he said.
Griffin explained that the virus could have survived the product due to the cold temperature and fat of the ice cream.
He also urged citizens not to panic about the setback.
“We probably don’t need to panic because all of the ice cream is suddenly contaminated with coronavirus,” Griffin added.
Officials said those who may have bought the ice cry should report its condition so the health department can follow up on possible cases.