Hong Kong pets face coronavirus quarantine after dog tests positive

“There is no evidence domestic animals such as dogs and cats can catch the virus or transmit it to humans but the department said all pets of infected people should be quarantined and tested for the virus for 14 days.”

(AFP)  All pets of people in Hong Kong infected with the coronavirus will be quarantined, with one dog already in isolation, the city’s authorities said Friday.

The move is the first reported case anywhere in the world of a government quarantining pets over the outbreak and was prompted by a positive test in the pet of an infected patient.

The canine has been placed in quarantine for 14 days as a precaution but has no “relevant symptoms”, Hong Kong officials said Friday.

“Nasal and oral cavity samples tested weak positive for COVID-19,” a government spokesman said without explaining why they tested the animal in the first place. View article →