Chinese city orders all indoor pets belonging to COVID-19 patients in one neighborhood to be killed

• China, which has been pursuing a zero-COVID strategy, is seeing a new surge in cases.
• One city ordered the killing of all indoor pets of COVID-19 patients in one of its districts.
• State-run media reported that the order was later stopped. It's not clear if any animals were killed.

A Chinese city briefly ordered all indoor pets belonging to COVID-19 patients in one neighborhood to be killed.

The Anci district of Langfang city, in northern China, on Wednesday ordered the "complete culling of indoor animals" of coronavirus patients, the state-run China News Service reported.

The work had stopped by 5 p.m. local time Wednesday, the China News Service reported, citing a staff member for the Langfang Center for Disease Control and Prevention. It is not clear how many animals were killed.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that pets can get COVID-19 from humans but that the risk of pets spreading the disease to people was "low."

China has been aggressively pursuing a zero-COVID strategy since the start of the pandemic.

Half of Shanghai — which has a population of about 26 million — went into lockdown earlier this week after thousands of new cases were recorded in the major city. The other half is due to lock down on Friday.

Hebei province, where Langfang is located, recorded hundreds of new daily COVID-19 cases in the recent weeks, China's CDC reported.