Chinese reefer delays escalate as fears grow of Covid relapses from frozen food imports

Fearing Covid strains could enter the country on frozen food imports, China is upping its checks on reefer shipments, leading to considerable delays at a number of ports. Chinese health officials said Wednesday that two cold-chain storage workers in the port city of Tianjin were infected with Covid-19. Earlier Covid relapses in the summer in cities including Beijing and Dalian were cited as coming from frozen food, with salmon often mentioned. Hapag-Lloyd informed its customers in a notice yesterday that due to instructions issued by local authorities, all reefer shipments to Tianjin are required to complete an inspection and test…