Hong Kong authorities said Tuesday that they will cull some 2,000 hamsters after several of the rodents tested positive for the virus at a pet store where an infected employee was working. Officials said they would also stop the sale and import of the rodents in the city. The move came after the pet shop employee tested positive for the delta variant on Monday. Several of the hamsters 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. They must also hand over their hamsters to authorities to be put down. Also read: Bangladesh experiences alarming week as Covid escalates Authorities said that all pet stores selling hamsters in Hong Kong must cease operations and that around 2,000 of the small animals will be culled in a humane manner. Customers who bought hamsters in Hong Kong from Dec. 22 will also be subject to mandatory testing and are urged not to go into the community until their tests have returned negative. For now, authorities said they would not rule out transmission between human and animals. Hong Kong police on Monday arrested two former flight attendants for allegedly leaving their homes when they should have been in isolation for possible coronavirus infections, which were later confirmed. The two arrived from the U.S on Dec. 24 and 25. While in medical surveillance, they had “conducted unnecessary activities,” according to a government statement posted late Monday. While the statement did not name their employer, the arrests came after flagship carrier Cathay Pacific said it had fired two crew members for breaching coronavirus protocols. Both later tested positive for the omicron variant. Cathay previously said the actions of the crew who had broken coronavirus protocols was “extremely disappointing” and apologized for the disruption. The company had to cut back on flights — both passenger and cargo — in January amid tightened virus curbs. The duo have been released on bail and will have their case heard in court on Feb. 9. If convicted of violating anti-epidemic regulations, they could face up to 6 months imprisonment and a fine of up to 5,000 Hong Kong dollars ($642). Also read: Australian life expectancy rises despite COVID-19: study Hong Kong has been grappling with a local omicron outbreak traced to several Cathay Pacific crew members who had dined at bars and restaurants across the city before later testing positive for the omicron variant. Previously in Hong Kong, certain air and sea crew members could isolate at home under certain quarantine exemptions. Regulations tightened Dec. 31 require crew members to isolate in a designated quarantine hotel for about a week to safeguard public health.

A study has found people who were coronavirus infected after vaccination are at lower health risk. The study was conducted from February 7 to April 13 on 200 such cases by a team of researchers at the University of Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences (CVASU). The study by CVASU found that only one infected patient died after taking the first dose of the vaccine. Read Half of US adults have received at least one COVID-19 shot According to the study, 82.5 percent of the patients did not have to go to hospital for treatment. Although 17.5 percent vaccinated yet infected patients were admitted to the hospital, no serious health risk was observed among them. More than 88 percent of 200 infected people did not have respiratory problems and 92 percent of the patients did not need oxygen. Read Are some Covid-19 vaccines more effective than others? The study showed that most of the vaccinated people became infected on average 32 days after vaccination and their average body temperature was 101 degrees.  These findings came up in the study in Chattogram region, led by Vice Chancellor Prof. Gautam Buddha Das of CVASU on the health risks of corona sufferers The study was performed on 200 infected people who had taken the first dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India. Also read: WHO calls for more research into post-Covid complications Professor Dr. Sharmin Chowdhury, Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed Rana, Dr. Trideep Das, Dr. Pranesh Dutta, Dr. Sirajul Islam and Dr. Tanvir Ahmad Nizami were among others in the research team. Only 35 of the 200 had to be hospitalized for treatment and rest of them took treatment from home. The primary symptoms of coronavirus attack are fever, sneezing and cough. The most notable symptom is shortness of breath. Most patients die from these respiratory and lung infections. However, the patients in this study showed these symptoms in a limited scale.   The positive side of the study is that only one in 200 infected patients needed to be admitted to the ICU and died after six days. Also read: Researchers find Italian woman infected with COVID-19 in November 2019: media Studies have shown that those who had shortness of breath, did not show symptoms more than five days on average. Their average oxygen saturation rate was 96.8 percent. In this regard, the head of the research team, CVASU VC Prof. Gautam Buddha Das, said that research has shown that people get infected even after vaccination but the risk of death is reduced. Only one in 200 infected people died after taking the first dose of the vaccine. This rate is 0.5 percent. However, others who take the first dose of the vaccine are better now, he added. Read Embattled Indian state looks to Bangladesh pharmas for supplies of Remdesivir