A nationwide cull of all cats in the UK was considered at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, it's been claimed.
Former NHS Test and Trace chief Lord Bethell said the concern about pets showed how little was known about the disease at the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020. Around that time, it appeared felines could be spreading the virus, and Lord Bethel, who was working under Boris Johnson at the time, said the Government briefly entertained the idea of asking the public to "exterminate all the cats in Britain".
Speaking to Channel 4 News, he said: "What we shouldn't forget is how little we understood about this disease. There was a moment we were very unclear about whether domestic pets could transmit the disease. In fact, there was an idea at one moment that we might have to ask the public to exterminate all the cats in Britain.
