The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department announced today (23rd) that a hamster handed over by the public was tested for the new coronavirus. An AFCD spokesman said that from January 17 to 22, the AFCD collected a total of 1,793 animal samples for COVID-19 testing, including hamsters handed over by the public and all pet shops that sell hamsters in Hong Kong and hamsters and small animals seized in a warehouse in Tai Po.
According to the Department of Health, as of tonight, testing of a total of 738 environmental samples collected by the CFS in the relevant pet stores and warehouses has been completed, and a total of 35 of them have tested positive for the virus. The latest test results showed that one more environmental sample collected from “I Love Rabbit”, 27B Lee Garden Hill Road, Causeway Bay, was positive. For the sake of prudence, the new locations mentioned above will be included in the mandatory inspection announcement. Anyone who has been in the above-mentioned locations between January 7 and January 18 will be required to undergo mandatory testing on a designated date. Employees at the location have been placed in quarantine centers for mandatory quarantine.
All tests have been completed and the results show that of the 113 samples taken from hamsters surrendered by citizens, 2 samples from the same hamster received on January 19 tested positive for the virus. The AFCD has reported the results to the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health for follow-up.
The spokesman added that among the 125 animal samples taken by the AFCD from the Little Boss pet shop in Causeway Bay under the I Love Rabbit Group, a total of seven samples from seven hamsters tested positive for the virus. Among the 49 hamster samples collected from another pet shop of the above-mentioned group in Causeway Bay, two samples from two hamsters tested positive for the virus. As for the 511 animal samples taken from the group’s warehouse in Tai Po, one hamster sample also tested positive for the virus. The AFCD has also reported the above results to the CHP for follow-up.
The spokesman also pointed out that as of January 22, the public had handed over a total of 77 hamsters to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, and 71 of them had been tested for the virus.
