The short answer: probably. And they’re not likely to transmit it either. “More than likely your pet is fine and your pet will be fine,” says TIME reporter Jasmine Aguilera, who consulted a number of experts for a recent story.
Around the world, more than 1 million humans have tested positive for COVID-19 but “we’ve only seen four domestic animals test positive so far worldwide, so the risk is very minimal [for COVID-19] to get to pets,” says William Sander, assistant professor of preventive medicine and public health, at the University of Illinois’ College of Veterinary Medicine.
Last weekend, a tiger at the Bronx Zoo tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 in humans. But that doesn’t mean your pet cat is in danger as tigers and domesticated cats aren’t even the same species, experts tell Aguilera.
Even if pets can get infected there’s little-to-no risk of them transmitting the virus to their owners. (No specific evidence exists suggesting this has ever happened.) If anything, it’s more likely that an owner could potentially transmit the disease to their pet.
Despite the lack of evidence suggesting that pets can be infected with and transmit coronavirus, experts still say it’s always a good idea to practice good hygiene around animals, including washing your hands before and after interacting with them. Although it’s unlikely the virus can live on an animal’s fur, there isn’t enough evidence to entirely rule out the possibility.
More than 1.4 million people in over 180 countries and territories around the world had been infected with COVID-19 as of Monday evening, and almost 75,000 lives have been lost to it.
Here is every country with over 10,000 confirmed cases, as of Monday night, 8 PM eastern time:
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in intensive care (but not on a ventilator) after being hospitalized with COVID-19 on Sunday, a Cabinet Minister said today. Without Johnson to lead the country, the U.K. is looking to Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to take charge while the Prime Minister has been forced to take a break.
India partially lifted a ban on the exports of hydroxychloroquine—a malaria drug that President Donald Trump has repeatedly touted as part of a possible cure for coronavirus even though experts say there is not enough evidence to recommend the treatment. India’s move came after Trump expressed his displeasure with the prior ban; he said in a recent phone conversation with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the U.S. would “appreciate” allowing a U.S. order of the drug “to come out,” according to Bloomberg . India meanwhile is facing its own coronavirus challenges, as its healthcare, governance and social cohesion are being pushed to the limit.
Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro is still not convinced that the coronavirus is as bad as it seems; he has dismissed COVID-19 as a “little flu.” Key ministers in his federal government, congressional leaders, and 24 of the country’s 27 governors, who have substantial power in a decentralized structure similar to the U.S., are forming an alliance to contain the virus. “The president despises us and attacks us. He has put us in an impossible position by creating a narrative that impedes the protection of people and life,” João Doria, the center-right governor of São Paulo, who has emerged as a key opposition figure, told TIME.
3M, the U.S. company that makes crucially needed N95 respirators, said Monday that it has reached an agreement with the Trump administration that would allow the company to continue to export the protective masks to Canada and Latin America. Canadian officials had previously lashed out at Trump after he banned the export of N95 respirators to Canada.
Passover appears to be yet another coronavirus casualty. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that the country would undergo a complete lockdown over the upcoming holiday; from Wednesday evening until Thursday morning, residents will not be able to leave their homes, the Associated Press reported.
The Situation in the United States
Earlier today, President Trump replaced Glenn Fine, who had been acting Defense Department inspector general, and effectively the leader of a watchdog group set up to monitor spending of the federal government’s $2 trillion relief package, with Sean O’Donnell, the Environmental Protection Agency’s inspector general. “The president is sending in some of his loyalists,” said House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a CNN interview. “So this is really a problem.”
A federal report published April 3 confirmed what many health care professionals and experts have already suggested: hospitals are facing severe shortages of coronavirus test supplies. Trump didn’t like the results, saying on Monday that the findings on testing were “wrong,” without citing evidence of specific inaccuracies.
Voters in Wisconsin are heading to the polls today. You heard that right: the state is asking hundreds of thousands of voters to ignore a state-issued stay-at-home order and stand in long lines to cast their ballot despite attempts to delay the election. On Monday afternoon, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers issued an executive order to postpone the election but it was quickly blocked by the state Supreme Court later that day, according to the AP.
All numbers are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of April 6, 8 PM eastern time. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
Italians Are Supporting Each Other in Creative Ways
As Italy enters its fifth week of lockdown, a 74-year-old psychologist living in Lombardy is helping out with a free mental health hotline she and four other colleagues set up; young people are bringing groceries and medicines to infected people in quarantine; and theatre actors are live-streaming fairy tales for children stuck at home. Read more here.
How the Coronavirus Death Toll Compares to Other Deadly Events From American History
TIME writer Olivia Waxman and director of data journalism Chris Wilson break down the numbers of lives lost and projected to be lost to COVID-19 compared to casualty counts from other historic events like the 9/11 attacks, World War II and previous flu pandemics. Read more here.
Here’s the History Behind the Ventilator, the Machine You Never Want to Need
TIME reporter Alejandro de la Garza dives back decades to give you the full story on the origins and development of the life-saving machines that help patients breathe and are in startlingly short supply in the U.S. Read more here.
A Way Out for American Travelers Stranded in Peru
Ainsley Katz, a Columbia and Cambridge University graduate, helped coordinate #stuckinperu campaign’s efforts to repatriate U.S. citizens trapped in Peru amid global flight cancellations and border closures. She writes for TIME about how social media can be key to bringing Americans back home from foreign countries. Read more here.
Without Enough Doctors and Ventilators, African Countries Fear Major Outbreaks
Without a strong campaign of social distancing, public health practitioners estimate that a quarter, or more, of a population could be infected. In Africa, that could amount to 250 million cases. Read more here.
A Hospital Suspended a Nurse Who Bought Protective Supplies for Her Colleagues Using GoFundMe
Olga Matievskaya and her fellow nurses at a New Jersey hospital raised more than $12,000 through GoFundMe to buy and distribute protective gear, ProPublica reports. The hospital suspended Matievskaya for distributing “unauthorized” protective gear. Read more here.
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