Can I get sick with COVID-19 if it’s on food?
Anika H. Ahmed, MD September 2020
The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a highly infectious, quickly-replicating virus responsible for the pandemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), that originally started in China and then spread across the globe sparing no country, race, gender or class of people. It has been established that SARS-CoV-2 spreads easily from person to person through droplet infection and anyone carrying the virus can convey the virus, through droplet infection while coughing, sneezing, or even talking. The outbreaks of COVID-19 among food handlers and workers in food processing plants have raised the question of whether it can be transmitted through food. This is certainly a genuine concern deserving much research work. This is ongoing research that shall continue for many years with scientists studying all aspects of the Coronavirus and comparing it to other foodborne viruses, like the Norovirus causing gastrointestinal infectious diseases.
Current ongoing research indicates that the pandemic of COVID-19 is not spread through food. It is only spread through close contact with a person carrying the Coronavirus. Foodborne viruses like Norovirus can live for weeks in food and some of them can survive freezing and heating, making them easy to transmit through foods. So far much less is known about the Coronavirus causing COVID-19 and much research is still ongoing. But research and current best studies so far indicate that it can probably live for some hours or few days at the most, far less time than do most common foodborne pathogens. The good news is that the public health workers busy tracking the disease have so far not found any cases of people catching COVID-19 from food. While research is still ongoing, it is presently safe to say that the main precaution everyone should be taking in order to avoid COVID-19 sickness is avoiding close contact with an infected person, not food.
On the other hand, eating the right food with high standards of hygiene practices that start with proper and frequent hand washing, can play a key role in boosting the immune system. Food can in fact keep one protected from COVID-19 and eating right can be the first line of defense against the Coronavirus. The symptoms of Coronavirus can fluctuate between mild to severe depending on the immune system of the individual. Some may remain totally asymptomatic while others may develop mild sneezing, cough, or fever. With a weak immune system, it could also blow into a full scale, acute respiratory syndrome needing hospitalization and intensive care. That is why eating the right food, in the right hygienic way, can be the key to staying healthy.