Will you get the COVID-19 from your dogs or cats to the best of existing scientific knowledge? Can humans give coronavirus to them? The good news is that pet parents worldwide can hug their fuzzy little ones closer after scientists concluded that animals can't transmit the coronavirus COVID-19, to humans.
A recent report conducted by researchers from the University of South Australia points to pets' lifesaving role in 2020 and why policymakers ought to sit up and take notice.
After reports broke out from China, the issue flared among pet owners few months ago following the death of a 17-year-old Pomeranian who seemingly healed from the virus.
But after checking negative for the disease, the government released the pooch from quarantine, the South China Morning Post reported.
Physical touch is taken for granted, experts say
The Journal of Behavioral Economics for Policy (JBEP) paper discusses how animals play a vital position in an age in which human-human interaction will threaten existence.
Lead author Dr Janette Young says physical contact is a sensation that was underestimated before COVID-19 toured our door earlier this year - sometimes forgotten.
In a year when human contact has been so limited and people have been deprived of touch, the health impacts on our quality of life have been enormous," Dr Young says.
She observed a worldwide upsurge during lockdowns of citizens adopting dogs and cats from local shelters.
More than half the global population is projected to share their lives with one or more dogs. The health benefits have been generally documented, but little evidence remains on the particular benefits that pets offer in contact with humans.
Not all cats and dogs either. Interviewees listed touch-reciprocating chickens, sheep, horses and even reptiles.
Expert says COVID-19 transmission from pets to humans is 'nonsense'
Several experts told CNN the idea that pets can transmit COVID-19 is 'nonsense'.
"I think the idea that we're going to give this virus to our pets or we're going to get it from them is just nonsense," said Dr. John Williams, chief of the divisions of pediatric infectious disease at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Children's Hospital of Pittsburg.
Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventative medicine and infectious disease at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, also debunks the idea in the same CNN report.
And the CDC website states that contaminated animals "have become capable of infecting humans and then spreading between individuals, but this is rare."
Two examples of coronaviruses spreading from animals to humans are extreme acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).
What are pet owners expected to do?
"Embrace your pets," advised Williams. "For their owners, pets play a vital psycho-psychological role, particularly now that everyone feels so isolated and alone."
"This is the time to hug your pet, but not your human loved one," Schaffner confirms. So let's maintain the social gap centered on human people, and embrace your dog or your cat or ferret or whatever if you need to hug something.
Experts underscore that the human-animal bond is extremely important. Hence, they encourage the fur-parents to take this quarantine opportunity to kick back and spend your time with their pets with so many people working from home.
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