Since the start of 2020, the spread of Coronavirus has been fast and furious.

To date, according to the latest figures (as of 28th Feb 2020) from the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering's Centers for Systems Science and Engineering, there have been at least 2867 deaths and 83861 cases of COVID 19 across the world.

The majority of these cases still comes from China, but in recent days, the likes of Italy and Japan have been creeping up too. There is even a cruise ship that is under strict quarantine orders, and the number of infected people have been increasing in the ship too.

In light ofthe pandemic, we humans have started to panic buy, and people have been sweeping foodoff the shelves in countries like South Korea, Italy and Singapore. Try buyinga mask these days and you can expect yourself to pay an exorbitant amount ofmoney for it, but there are still people who are willing to pay the price forthe goods. These are the measures that we humans do so as to protect ourselves.

For thecase of our pets, they do not have the natural means to protect themselves fromthe virus. But then again, the question is can dogs get coronavirus? Will theCOVID-19 virus affect them too?

Can dogs get coronavirus?

Previously,the World Health Organization did note that there is no evidence that pets can be infected by theCOVID-19 virus, but it still urged humans to practice good hygiene togetherwith their pets. However, at the point of writing, there is a first reportedcase of a pet getting infected with the COVID-19 virus.

On the 28th of Feb 2020, the World Health Organization declared that it has the world very first case of a dog that is being infected with COVID-19, though the dog has been tested ‘weakly positive’. While scientists cannot determine the source of the virus for the dog, it is reported that the dog’s owner has been tested positive for the virus. This happened in Hong Kong.

So, thereyou have it! It is very possible for dogs to get coronavirus, and it will beextremely important that you take some effective measures so as to protect youand your dog. But before you change your lifestyle completely, read on and findout what does the latest observation entails for you as a pet owner.

What does this mean?

Now that there is case of a dog being affected by COVID-19 virus, what does that meanfor us? Should we, as pet owners, send our pets for testing or even to wear a mask when we are around the pet?

Actually.The fact that dogs can be affected by COVID -19 should not affect your dailymovement much. All you need to do, is to practice good hygiene with your dog.Always make it a point to wash your hands before and after you touch your dogso as to minimize the possibility of bacteria or viruses being transmitted tothe dog! There is absolutely no reason why you should wear masks on your dog!