Page 20 - HOH

A7
WORLD NEWS Wednesday 19 January 2022

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

By ZEN SOO Associated nary College.
Press Leung Siu-fai, director of
HONG KONG (AP) — Hong the Agriculture, Fisheries
Kong authorities said Tues- and Conservation Depart-
day that they will kill about ment, said during a news
2,000 small animals, includ- conference that owners
ing hamsters, after several should keep hamsters at
tested positive for the coro- home, and not take them
navirus at a pet store where out.
an employee was also in- "All pet owners should ob-
fected. serve good personal hy-
The city will also stop the giene, and after you have
sale of hamsters and the been in contact with ani-
import of small mammals, mals and their food, you
according to officials from should wash your hands,"
the Agriculture, Fisheries he said.
and Conservation Depart- "Do not kiss your pets," he
ment. The pet shop em- added.
ployee tested positive for Customers who purchased
the delta variant on Mon- nificant role in spreading ally infected from the ham- virus spreads so easily be- hamsters from the store
day, and several hamsters the coronavirus. But Hong sters," said Edwin Tsui, a tween people. Minks are after Jan. 7 will be traced
imported from the Neth- Kong authorities said they controller at the Centre for the only known animals to and be subject to manda-
erlands at the store tested are not ruling out transmis- Health Protection. have caught the virus from tory quarantine and must
positive as well. sion between animals and While this coronavirus most people and spread it back, hand over their hamsters to
According to the U.S. Cen- humans. likely jumped from animals according to Dr. Scott authorities to be put down,
ters for Disease Control and "We cannot exclude the to humans in the first place, Weese at Ontario Veteri- officials said.q
Prevention, animals do possibility that the shop- the outbreak became a
not appear to play a sig- keeper was in fact actu- pandemic because the
Europe narrows hunt for next

astronauts, eyes crewed flights

BERLIN (AP) — The Euro- of 22,589 applicants from tens of candidates by the
pean Space Agency has people hoping to become end of the year for the four
narrowed down the candi- the continent's next gen- to six positions on its astro-
date list for its next genera- eration of space travelers. naut training program.
tion of astronauts, includ- ESA said Tuesday it has The agency's director-gen-
ing dozens who have a reduced these to fewer eral, Josef Aschbacher,
physical disability. than 1,400 including 29 of said the selection process
The agency announced whom have a physical dis- would be accompanied
last year that it had re- ability and hoped to cut by a feasibility study to de-
ceived a record number the shortlist down to several termine the implications of
choosing candidates with
disabilities "but, yes, we are
committed at ESA to open
space to everyone."
ESA has for decades relied
on its Russian and Ameri-
can counterparts to launch
astronauts into space.
Currently the agency has
several places booked
on American commercial
launches. But Aschbacher
said Europe may finally get
its own crewed spacecraft
if ESA member states ap-
prove the idea at a meet-
ing later this year.q