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Review
. 2021 May 20:9:650493.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.650493. eCollection 2021.

The Long-Term Presence of SARS-CoV-2 on Cold-Chain Food Packaging Surfaces Indicates a New COVID-19 Winter Outbreak: A Mini Review

Yuhua Chi  1   2 , Qingxiu Wang  3 , Guosheng Chen  4 , Shiliang Zheng  1   2
Affiliations
Review

The Long-Term Presence of SARS-CoV-2 on Cold-Chain Food Packaging Surfaces Indicates a New COVID-19 Winter Outbreak: A Mini Review

Yuhua Chi et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a highly infectious virus that is transmitted primarily through droplets or by coming in close contact with an infected person. In 2020, there was a global outbreak of COVID-19, resulting in an unprecedented global burden of disease, health care costs, and had a significant economic impact. Recently, SARS-CoV-2 was detected on the outer packaging of imported cold chain items in China and has led to virus transmission events, causing great concern. This paper analyses the factors of SARS-CoV-2 survival and transmission in different places and environments, especially the characteristics of low temperatures and object surfaces. It was found that SARS-CoV-2 could survive on surfaces of cold and moist objects in the cold chain for more than 3 weeks, potentially causing COVID-19 transmission. We believe that the low-temperature environment in winter may accelerate the spread of the outbreak and new outbreaks may occur. Overall, SARS-CoV-2 transmission that is susceptible to low winter temperatures is critical for predicting winter pandemics, allowing for the appropriate action to be taken in advance.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; cold chain; item surface; outbreak.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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