Concerns that hamsters might also be capable of infecting humans first surfaced when a 23-year-old worker at the Little Boss pet shop in Hong Kong tested positive for Covid on 15 January – the city’s first Delta variant diagnosis for more than three months.
Authorities and pet lovers in Hong Kong are locked in a game of cat and mouse, with citizens mounting a clandestine rescue operation for hamsters condemned to be euthanised over fears they could transmit Covid-19.On Tuesday, government and health officials announced traces of the virus had been found on 11 hamsters , all in a pet shop where a 23-year-old staff member had fallen ill.
The order includes pets that were bought days before Christmas be handed over, with a warning not to “kiss or abandon them on the street” as Hong Kong and mainland China attempt to sustain a zero Covid strategy, attempting to suppress all outbreaks internally while maintaining tight border controls with the outside world.
The Pomeranian, 17, was quarantined at a government facility in Hong Kong last month after being believed to have caught coronavirus from its owner, Yvonne Chow Hau Yee, 60.
A spokesman for Hong Kong's Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said that a pet dog had been tested "weak positive" for the COVID-19 virus, but also noted that AFCD "does not have evidence that pet animals can be infected with coronavirus or be a source of infection to people.".