After multiple tiny animals, including hamsters, tested positive for the coronavirus at a pet business where an employee was also afflicted, Hong Kong officials said they would slaughter roughly 2,000 small animals, including hamsters.
According to the Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department authorities, the city will also prohibit selling hamsters and importing small animals.
On Monday, a pet store employee tested positive for the delta strain, and the business's hamsters, which were imported from the Netherlands, also tested positive.
Cross-Species Transmission
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. officials said Animals do not appear to have a substantial role in transmitting the coronavirus. However, authorities in Hong Kong said they are not ruling out the possibility of animal-to-human transmission.
The Centre for Health Protection controller, Edwin Tsui, stated, "We can't rule out the likelihood that the hamsters truly infected the shopkeeper."
At a press conference, department head Leung Siu-fai stated, "If you possess a hamster, you should keep your hamsters at home, do not take them out." "You should wash your hands after coming into touch with animals and their food, and all pet owners should practice proper personal hygiene."
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He went on to say, "Do not kiss your pets."
According to officials, customers who purchased hamsters from the business after January 7 will be tracked and subjected to obligatory quarantine and must hand over their hamsters to authorities to be put down as a precaution.
Humanely Putting 2,000 Pets to Rest
According to them, approximately 2,000 tiny animals, including hamsters and chinchillas, would be killed humanely in Hong Kong.
Customers who purchased hamsters in Hong Kong after December 22 will be subjected to obligatory testing and are advised not to share their results with anyone until they have received a positive impact. Their hamsters will be quarantined if they test positive.
According to Hong Kong's Society for Animal Cruelty Prevention, the decision to kill the animals "shocked and worried" the government and encouraged it not to "take any severe action before evaluating its policy."
Several Cathay Pacific crew members who dined at pubs and restaurants around the city before testing positive for the omicron strain have been linked to a local omicron epidemic in Hong Kong.
Quarantine
According to the authorities, two former flight attendants were detained late Monday for leaving their residences during quarantine and afterward being found to have coronavirus illnesses. According to the report, the two arrived from the United States on December 24 and 25 and "conducted needless actions" while under medical observation, which did not identify their company.
Cathay Pacific said it had dismissed two crew members for breaking coronavirus guidelines after the arrests. It had previously apologized and termed their actions "very unsatisfactory." In January, the business cut back on passenger and freight flights due to increased virus restrictions.
The two have been granted bail and will appear in court on February 9 to present their case. They might face up to six months in jail and a fine of up to 5,000 Hong Kong dollars ($642) if found guilty of breaking anti-epidemic legislation.
Previously, under quarantine exemptions in Hong Kong, certain air and sea crew personnel may isolated at home. On December 31, regulations were strengthened to compel crew members to separate in a designated quarantine hotel for nearly a week.
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