Virus strain / people enjoying takeaway
Can your favourite Friday night takeaway help spread coronavirus? (Picture: Getty)

It was revealed earlier today that Public Health chiefs are urgently looking for 300 workers from a food factory in north Wales after an outbreak of coronavirus.

166 new cases of coronavirus have been recorded at Rowan Foods in Wrexham, which has over 1,000 people working on site making food for supermarkets across the UK.

In a statement today, Public Health Wales said: ‘We are working with Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board to urgently contact just over 300 workers that have not yet presented for testing.

‘As we would expect with any focused track and trace process, we will identify additional asymptomatic cases.

But should people in the UK be worried about shopping now? Can coronavirus spread through food? Here’s what the experts are saying…

Can Covid-19 spread through food?

It has been suggested by different health organisations and bodies that coronavirus cannot spread through food.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) have addressed the issue, saying: ‘It is highly unlikely that people can contract Covid-19 from food or food packaging.

‘Covid-19 is a respiratory illness and the primary transmission route is through person-to-person contact and through direct contact with respiratory droplets generated when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

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‘There is no evidence to date of viruses that cause respiratory illnesses being transmitted via food or food packaging. Coronaviruses cannot multiply in food; they need an animal or human host to multiply.’

Additionally, EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) suggest that there is currently no evidence that food is a source of coronavirus and it is very unlikely it can be transmitted through the consumption of food.

As for the outbreak at the food factory in Wales, Public Health Wales added: ‘There is no evidence that Rowan Foods is the source of the outbreak.’

Is it safe to order takeaways then?

With so many of us still at home for most of the week, a takeaway is one way to treat ourselves, so is this still safe to do?

Considering all schools of thought currently state that food is not a source of the virus, then you should be fine to indulge in a takeaway or two (or three, or four…)

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But Professor Bill Keevil – Professor of Environmental Health at the University of Southampton – told The Telegraph that it’s important to be wary of all the contact that takes place when food is made and delivered.

He said: ‘Ideally staff should be wearing gloves, washing hands, being sent home if they’re displaying symptoms…’

So – as long as staff are carrying out appropriate safety measures – it seems getting a takeaway is considered low risk.’

If you’re going out to pick up your takeaway, or you’re meeting your delivery driver, it’s still advised that you follow social distancing.

The new one-metre-plus rule states that you should keep a distance of at least one metre, wear face coverings on public transport and continue to wash your hands regularly.

MORE : Gross video shows how easily germs spread on the Tube

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