Three pet cats which tested positive for the novel coronavirus were euthanized on Tuesday in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, according to a report by Beijing News on Tuesday night.

The owner of the cats, a female local resident surnamed Liu, was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Sept 21, the report said.

"Before I went to the hospital for medical treatment, I left enough food and water for them," she said. "The community workers also helped me take care of them."

In the past days, community workers have conducted three nucleic acid tests for the virus on the environment in Liu's apartment, and staff members from the animal epidemic prevention department conducted two tests on the three cats, including a siamese cat and two ginger cats.

"They told me on Monday that my cats tested positive for the virus two consecutive times and they would euthanize them," Liu said, adding that she refused to sign an informed consent for the euthanasia, with the hope of getting a chance to give them medical treatment.

However, she was told on Tuesday evening that the three cats were euthanized.

"Because there is no previous medical treatment for pets infected with the novel coronavirus, the cats could only be euthanized," a community worker told the Beijing News. "If they were not dealt with in this way, the environment they live in will continue testing positive for the virus, which will stop their owner and even all the residents living in the same community from returning home."

"There is little experience in treating animals infected with the novel coronavirus," Feng Zijian, a researcher with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, was quoted as saying by the Beijing News. "And it is not clear about the period and mode for a cat to eliminate the virus."

"There will be transmission risk in the family if the cats keep carrying the virus, so the treatment process needs great caution," he said. "If testing results for the cats show continuous positives, they should be euthanized."