Hong Kong's decisive culling of about 2,000 hamsters caused controversy, Hong Kong media: human safety is always the first

　　[Global Times reporter Ye Lan] After a female employee of a pet shop in Hong Kong's Causeway Bay was infected with "Delta" and was suspected to be the world's first case of hamster infection, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government announced that 2,000 hamsters and small animals would be culled. caused quite a bit of controversy.

　　According to Hong Kong's "Sing Tao Daily" on the 20th, after the confirmed cases in the pet store appeared, the relevant departments tested 11 hamster samples that were initially positive for the new coronavirus.

The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said that two batches of 2,000 hamsters arrived in Hong Kong by air from the same company in the Netherlands on December 22 last year and on the 7th of this month. The risk is relatively high. Citizens who purchased these two batches of hamsters are strongly urged to hand them over to Hong Kong. Humanely deal with AFCD.

On the 19th, some citizens responded to the call to hand over the hamster.

The child surnamed Chen, whose eyes were red and swollen from crying, was accompanied by his father and took the hamster to the designated place.

Mr. Chen said that on the 7th of this month, they bought hamsters at the pet store where the outbreak occurred, and they belonged to the batch recommended by the government to hand over. He explained to his son that he did not want to endanger the society. "The child is so sad and cried all night, but there is no way to do it." .

The child surnamed Chen said that he understands and understands that the hamster must be sent away in order to protect the health of his family.

As of the 19th, the AFCD has humanely destroyed more than 1,200 animals.

A Hong Kong reporter visited the area around Tung Choi Street in Mong Kok at noon on the 20th and found that the hamster shop continued to close and suspend business.

　　The "Rat Killing Order" has caused some controversy.

The Center for Animal Health and Welfare of City University of Hong Kong believes that the risk of humans contracting the new coronavirus from pets is "minimal". Infected hamsters usually shed the virus through respiratory secretions within 3 to 6 days, so hamsters purchased before December 22 last year. For "Delta" there is no risk of infection.

Animal protection organizations are even more worried about the tide of abandonment, and they have posted "rat pick-up actions" through social media to recruit caring people to temporarily raise abandoned hamsters.

　　In this regard, Liang Zhaohui, director of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, emphasized on the 19th that humane destruction is to remove risks as soon as possible and cut off possible transmission chains, not to kill all hamsters "one size fits all".

Yuan Guoyong, a government expert adviser who supports the killing of rats and a professor of the Department of Microbiology of the University of Hong Kong, recently received an "email calling me to die". He said that he understands that this time the situation is complicated, and when emotions are high, it is not easy to understand the decision.

He admitted that science and medicine cannot solve the issue of "love", and expressed deep sympathy for hamster lovers who lost their pets. However, about one-third of Hong Kong's people and more than half of the elderly have not been vaccinated. Once "delta" broke out in the community, Thousands of unvaccinated elderly people die.

Respiratory specialist Liang Zichao said that even if the hamster tests negative, it does not mean that there is no incubation period or intermittent discharge, so it must be destroyed humanely.

Pan Liewen, a professor at the School of Public Health of the University of Hong Kong, said that after there were only sporadic cases of "Delta" infection in Hong Kong in November last year, this time the mutant strain was found in pet store employees, hamsters in the store, and hamster warehouses. It shows that it is likely to come from the same source, and it can be seen that the probability of virus transmission from hamsters to humans is very high.

On the 20th, the SAR government expressed its solemn condemnation for receiving threatening emails after a member of the government's anti-epidemic expert advisory group explained the "rat killing order" to the public.

　　Hong Kong added 14 confirmed cases on the 20th, including 10 local cases.

The Education Bureau announced that all secondary schools in Hong Kong must suspend face-to-face classes on or before next Monday until the Spring Festival holiday. Secondary 6 students can return to school for up to half a day to process necessary learning and assessment.

The "Bus News" commented on the 20th that ordinary citizens will be very sympathetic to those cute hamsters, and as a public health decision maker, it is necessary to balance the two evils. The cost, "in economics terms, is 'opportunity cost'".

Due to the risk of human casualties, society cannot afford such a large "opportunity cost", so hamsters can only be destroyed humanely.

Denmark discovered a mutated strain of the virus that could be transmitted to humans on mink farms in 2020, culling 17 million minks based on the same logic.

The article also mentioned universal testing, arguing that "rejecting universal testing and allowing the epidemic to slow down is actually the same as not killing hamsters, and there is a huge opportunity cost".

　　And Hong Kong media said on the 20th that the reason why pets are pets is that their owners must have invested in their feelings, not to mention that hamsters are docile and cute in appearance, so in the eyes of many people, their humane destruction seems too cruel, "but in the face of the general principle of anti-epidemic. , sometimes had to make some sacrifices."

The article also mentioned the culling of mink in Denmark, which was criticized by animal protection organizations at the time. "But in the current epidemic, human safety is always the first priority. If Hong Kong does not take decisive measures for hamsters this time, there may be more animals who want to Humanely destroyed".