Hong Kong to cull 2,000 animals after hamsters get COVID-19

By ZEN SOO
Associated Press

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong authorities say that they will cull some 2,000 small animals after several hamsters tested positive for the coronavirus at a pet store where an infected employee was working. Officials said Tuesday they would also stop the sale hamsters and the import of small mammals in the city. The move came after the pet shop employee tested positive for the delta variant on Monday. Several imported hamsters in the same pet shop tested positive for the coronavirus as well. Even though authorities acknowledged that there is “no evidence” that pets can transmit the coronavirus to humans, as a precautionary measure, customers who had purchased hamsters from the affected store after Jan. 7 will be traced and must be subject to mandatory quarantine.