Chinese officials testing fish, crab and shrimp for Covid-19

The world doesn’t “know whether to laugh or cry” at China’s next-level zero-Covid strategy. WATCH VIDEO

Chinese officials are taking their Covid testing policies a step further, not only testing fish before they return to the harbour, but their materials too – that means swabbing fish.

New video shows Xiamen City authorities decked out in hazmat suits vigorously swabbing fish before allowing them to be sold in the market.

City authorities said its returning workers were being tested because some fishers had allegedly made illegal trades with overseas vessels while at sea.

Chinese officials are testing the daily catch over fears of contact with overseas vessels. Picture: Supplied

The mandatory testing requirements included their materials, including fish, crabs and shrimp.

“At present, all people in Xiamen City need nucleic acid testing, and the fish catches must be tested as well,” an employee at the Xiamen municipal ocean development bureau told local media, reports The Guardian.

Video shows Chinese officials vigorously swabbing fish for Covid-19. Picture: supplied

Given that fish don’t have lungs, so are unlikely to catch Covid, but with the nearby island-province of Hainan experiencing a serious outbreak, authorities say they are trying to stop Covid from spreading before the sea.

Earlier this month, infections were detected in Sanya, and have since spread to the whole island.

The provincial government said the Omicron subvariant had been imported via seafood transactions between local and foreign fishermen, triggering the extreme measures.

“This is so disturbing don’t know whether to laugh or cry,” said Twitter user Neysun Mahboubi.

Another user joked they were being “tested for fish-pox”.

“A Covid-19 positive fish is the pre-text for China to lockdown Taiwan Strait and South Sea,” tweeted another.

Ever since the first cases were identified in the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China has had a series of lockdowns to enforce its ‘zero-Covid’ policy.

So far, there no confirmed reports of fish testing positive for Covid-19, in China or elsewhere.