Coronavirus: quarantine recommended for pets of Hongkongers with Covid-19 as Pomeranian tests positive a second time
- But city’s veterinary surgeons say ‘no evidence yet’ coronavirus could infect domesticated animals, as there is a high possibility of environmental contamination
- Oral and nasal samples taken from pet dog tested ‘weak positive’ on Friday, the same result as obtained the previous day
Hong Kong’s Department of Health is strongly recommending that dogs, cats and other mammals of confirmed Covid-19 patients undergo a 14-day quarantine after a pet Pomeranian of one patient again registered a “weak positive” for the virus that causes the disease in a second test.
Previously, family members were allowed to care for the pets of the infected if they did not live with the patients and were not subject to quarantine themselves.
“But from now on, we will ask the owners to send their pets to the [Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department] for quarantine just to make sure they are not infected,” said Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable disease branch of the Centre for Health Protection.
The Department of Health later clarified this was not a mandatory requirement, but was unable to say what would be done if a patient refused to surrender their pet, as they had not confronted such a situation yet.
The move came as the department revealed late on Friday that oral and nasal samples taken from the pet dog tested “weak positive” earlier in the day, the same result as obtained in a test on Thursday. The department said it would continue to do tests on the dog, which would not be returned until the results were negative.
Chuang said a cat belonging to Hong Kong’s 18th confirmed patient, a 25-year-old man, had previously been sent to the department for testing. Its results were negative, and the cat, an Exotic Shorthair, was sent back to its owner, who was discharged from hospital on February 12.