(Shock clip) Shanghai medical staff test for Covid-19 for raw fish, netizens suspect that China is too obsessed with the disease

Video of medical staff performing Covid-19 tests on live fish at a seafood market in Shanghai is going viral on the internet. Chinese social media users questioned whether the government was going too far in its efforts to defeat the spread of the virus.

In the clip, medical staff wearing rubber gloves, holding a cotton swab poked into the mouth of a live fish to test it for Covid-19 infection or not.

Medical staff in protective gear told the local fisherman holding the fish: “Please don’t release it.” The fisherman smiled and replied, “Don’t be afraid, it won’t bite.”

The video has garnered more than 2.3 million views on the Haokan streaming platform alone. The clip then went viral across China’s social media platforms like Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social network.

A viewer on Haokan commented: “Then what will they do if the test result is positive? Will the fish have to be quarantined or not?”. Other viewers considered it a “joke” and a “waste” action.

Internet users have questioned the practicality of performing a Covid-19 test on the live fish.

Performing a Covid-19 test on raw fish may not be all that shocking in China. Authorities have tried to link cases of the virus to everything from parcels to frozen food.

In November 2021, the port city of Dalian stopped selling frozen foods amid the Covid-19 outbreak. Earlier this month, China Post said it would test all foreign mail before delivering them. According to the CDC, there is no evidence that the virus can be transmitted either way.

The Covid-19 test for fish has occurred as the financial hub Shanghai of 26 million people has seen an increase in Covid-19 cases in recent weeks. The city has been split in half along the Huangpu River for mass testing while under a strict lockdown.

According to the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, on March 31, Shanghai recorded 4,144 asymptomatic cases of Covid-19 and 258 symptomatic cases.

Source: BI