The Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) said in a statement on Friday that in order to ensure that the novel coronavirus does not enter Macau via imported frozen goods, it has been checking their quality since last June and has yet to find any problematic products.
According to the statement, IAM officials are checking food products, environment samples and staff delivering them to ensure that no imported goods brought in COVID-19. The statement noted that the bureau, on average, samples 250 food products and environment samples per day, adding that it disinfects over 70,000 boxes of frozen goods per week. The statement underlined that from last June until last month the bureau collected five million food products and environment samples and all were COVID-19-free.
The statement said that the bureau has implemented a “frozen food products tracing system”, adding that those items that have been checked need to be registered in the system so that if the batch has any problem the bureau can easily trace where they are.
The statement also pointed out that anyone who works with imported frozen goods needs to comply with the Health Bureau’s guidelines and undergo a nucleic acid test (NAT) every seven days. The statement said that all the workers must display a valid Macau Health Code and be registered with the monitoring system, noting that there are currently more than 3,500 workers registered with the system.
Meanwhile, the statement said that in case of an emergency situation, the bureau has prepared a contingency plan. The statement pointed out that if IAM officials find the COVID-19 virus in one of the samples, they have a complete list of people who have had close contact with the contaminated product. The statement also said that the bureau will immediately disinfect the relevant area and destroy the problematic products.
For more information on food safety, residents can visit www.foodsafety.gov.mo.
This undated handout photo provided by the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) on Friday shows a IAM official collecting samples from a box of frozen food products.
