Hong Kong authorities yesterday said that they would cull about 2,000 hamsters after several of the rodents tested positive for COVID-19 at a pet store where an infected employee was working.
Officials said they would also stop the sale and import of the rodents in the territory.
The move came after the pet shop employee tested positive for the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 on Monday. Several of the hamsters tested positive as well.
Photo: AFP
Even though authorities acknowledged that there is “no evidence” that pets can transmit COVID-19 to humans, as a precautionary measure, customers who had purchased hamsters from the affected store after Jan. 7 would be traced and be subjected to mandatory quarantine.
They must also hand over their hamsters to authorities to be put down.
Authorities said that all pet stores selling hamsters in Hong Kong must cease operations and that about 2,000 of the animals would be culled in a humane manner.
Customers who bought hamsters in Hong Kong from Dec. 22 would also be subject to mandatory testing and were urged to self-isolate until their tests have returned negative.
For now, authorities said they would not rule out transmission between human and animals.
Earlier, Hong Kong police on Monday arrested and charged two Cathay Pacific flight attendants for allegedly contravening COVID-19 regulations, after the emergence of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the territory was traced to their breach of home quarantine.
Hong Kong maintains a strict zero COVID-19 strategy that has kept cases low, but has largely cut the territory off from both the mainland and the rest of the world for the past two years.
An outbreak of the Omicron variant traced to Cathay air crew who breached their quarantine period led to a dramatic tightening of already strict disease prevention measures — including shuttering kindergartens, elementary schools and indoor dining at night.
Police on Monday announced that two flight attendants had been arrested and charged for breaching disease prevention regulations.
“They had conducted unnecessary activities” on Dec. 25 and 27, when they were supposed to be under home quarantine after returning to Hong Kong, the statement said.
“They were both subsequently tested positive for COVID-19 Omicron variant, and have been discharged from hospital upon completion of treatment,” it added.
The two — who were fired after the quarantine breach — face up to six months in prison and a HK$5,000 (US$642) fine.
They have been released on bail and their cases are to be heard next month.
The revelation of the Cathay quarantine breach piles new pressure on the airline, already battered by the pandemic.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) last week said that authorities were investigating whether Cathay Pacific has complied with disease prevention regulations, and could face legal action.
In the onslaught of criticism, Cathay Pacific chairman Patrick Healy defended his airline, arguing that a “tiny minority” of rule-breakers should not overshadow its contributions to Hong Kong.
The airline’s crew spent more than 62,000 nights in quarantine hotels last year, he said, adding that 1,000 staff were subjected to more than 11,000 nights in Penny’s Bay, the Hong Kong government’s quarantine facility.
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