A New Coronavirus Threat !

 New Zealand seemed to offer a shining example of how the coronavirus could ben tamed.  Their initial lockdown led to a three month period in which these  Pacific islands were disease free and life began returning to normal.

Now a cluster has suddenly appeared in their biggest city, and the " why question " can not be answered.  Suspicion is mounting that coronavirus may be travelling undetected on frozen goods arriving in the country and that is a danger that was unexpected.   We know that this virus can not be killed by either hot or cold weather, but whether it can survive in frozen form awaits further investigation.

The finger is being pointed at countries where the virus is rampant and which export food goods to the world.  It seems quite reasonable that if workers there are infected when they are packing goods for overseas shipment there is a possibility that this is a dangerous way the disease may be transferred to supermarket freezers.

The problem is that workers may be infected for many days before the conditions show  and because of air freight those goods can be on the other side of the world just hours after they are packed.  It seems inevitable that frozen fish and the wide variety of frozen vegetables on offer in our supermarkets will be viewed with buyer suspicion.

If this is correct, it is not just a New Zealand problem - but a world problem.  We live an interconnected world in which frozen goods play a big part in the world food supply.  If the buying public reject all foods packed overseas it will not solve the problem.  The food we pack and freeze here in Australia is just as likely to be handled by a worker with latent strains of the coronavirus in their system.  Frozen foods are an integral part of our entire farming system.

If the coronavirus is able to travel in frozen form it will certainly be put under the microscope by world   scientists to determine how long that may remain viable.  Because it is an entirely new disease we are yet to learn its inner workings and they may be different to the strains we encounter.  It may contain threats that cross normal boundaries.

It is quite possible that all forms of frozen food may be required to be held in storage for a nominated period of time once the lifetime of the virus is known.  We are aware that the all year round supply of seasonal goods is achieved by cold storage and a time delay would be a simple answer once a safety period is established.

If nothing else, this coronavirus has been a wake up call that our growing world population is vulnerable to newly minted diseases capable of upending the world economy.   We are lucky that this one has a moderate death rate and mainly attacks elder people.

There may be many more unpleasant surprises before this virus event is over and the world that emerges will have little relevance with the one that went before.