Beijing August 18, 2008 : In the coastal Chinese city of Xiamen the issue is not only the mouths of fishermen that are being swabbed to check for Covid-19 and the fish they’ve caught, according to a report in the media. As China continues to adhere to its pledge to eradicate Covid city officials work to ensure that there is no way where the virus can spread the waters of fishermen, requiring that all fishers and their catch to undergo every day a test for nucleic acids, The Guardian published the story.
As per the Xiamen Jimei district’s political and legal committee the district’s legal and political committee, it was imperative to swap swabs on returning workers as well as their “materials” immediately upon debarking every day, as certain fishermen had engaged in illegal trades or had contact with vessels from overseas during their time at sea “resulting in the import of coronavirus”.
“At moment, all residents in Xiamen city require nucleic acid tests and the fish caught should be tested too,” an employee at the Xiamen municipal ocean development bureau informed local media.
Television stories on news showed police swabbing mouths of fish and the underside of crabs, The Guardian reported.
There was no evidence in which any trace of the virus was discovered.
The rules were announced in late December and made headlines this week, creating amusement on social media.
On Weibo a hashtag related to it was read by more than 120 million people and was discussed with thousands of.
“Absurd This is a relic of decades of bizarreness,” one popular comment said.
Another suggestion is that the authorities go further by incorporating marine life into the obligatory health code and directing fish coming from international waters to China’s territory to undergo seven days of quarantine.
China remains committed to a zero Covid this policy has received broad support from the Chinese public but has also irked many Chinese.
The effort that requires a lot of resources has seen the city lockdowns re-instatement and travel restrictions.
There are also frequent testing of nucleic acids for residents, The Guardian reported.
The last week, a viral video showcased customers at Ikea overpowering security guards to force doors open and avoid being locked inside after an immediate quarantine order was handed out to the retailer.
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