15 People infected with COVID after attending cat's birthday party
Every now and again, a story comes along which makes you do a double take...
A birthday party for a pet has reportedly been reported as the source of a coronavirus outbreak, infecting 15 people and leaving several attendees critically- ill.
READ: Coronavirus: Latest global developments
The ten people who attended the party in Santo Domingo, not only all contracted the virus but passed it on to a further five family members and friends.
The only immune attendee was the cat.
The outbreak that started the party was later on confirmed by Francisco Alvarez, the Valparaiso Regional Secretary of the Ministry of Health (SEREMI), who also couldn't believed the initial reports about the start of the outbreak.
While addressing the media during a public statement, he said:
When I heard it was a cat's birthday party I thought it was a joke, That they were probably trying to hide something, but indeed it was. We have corroborated it with at least six of the 15 [infected] people who told us the same thing.
He also added:
The cat never had the virus. It was the birthday organiser, the owner, she was patient zero.
This sort of outbreak was bound to happen at some point because even though people have been told to stay at home and take necessary precautions they are still gathering with others instead of simply staying at home.
Read: Gorillas at San Diego zoo test positive for Covid-19
Various animals have been tested positive for the virus, including dogs, cats and even tigers and earlier this month, it was reported that a group of gorillas in a zoo in the US were thought to be the first primates to have contracted Covid-19.
Within the eight gorillas that had tested positive for the deadly virus, a few of them had started coughing as a result of the infection.
The park's executive director, said:
Aside from some congestion and coughing, the gorillas are doing well. The troop remains quarantined together and are eating and drinking. We are hopeful for a full recovery.