Health officials in China have reported that the coronavirus outbreak has killed 1355 people in mainland China and has infected nearly 60,000 people.

As the country is continuously battling the outbreak, concerned pet owners are doing their best to keep their pets safe.

There is no evidence that you can catch the deadly coronavirus from animals or pets, nor the pet can catch the virus from humans, but pet owners are taking precautions.

Since the outbreak began, pet face masks have been selling at a rate that they were never seen at.

On Weibo, the Twitter of China, users have been sharing images of their animals wearing masks.

Others are using dog masks, but others are using face masks for humans.

In the latest picture, a cat owner in China was seen giving its pet cat a human face mask with eye holes in order to protect it from the novel coronavirus.

The image was shared by Li Shen Le, a blogger, who said a follower of hers provided the picture.

Not only cats but dog owners in China are buying specialized face masks so they can protect them from the virus.

But according to the World Health Organization, there is no evidence that you can catch the deadly virus from an animal or pet and vice versa.

WHO said in a statement, “The animal source of the 2019-nCoV has not yet been identified. This does not mean you can catch 2019-nCoV from any animal or from your pet. It’s likely that an animal source from a live animal market in China was responsible for some of the first reported human infections.”

They added, “To protect yourself, when visiting live animal markets, avoid direct unprotected contact with live animals and surfaces in contact with animals… at present there is no evidence that companion animals or pets such as cats and dogs have been infected or have spread 2019-nCoV.”

Face masks are considered by many as a good way to protect themselves from the deadly virus, but in reality, they may not be entirely effective, said a professor of molecular virology.

Jonathan Ball, a professor of Molecular Virology at the University of Nottingham, said: “In one well-controlled study in a hospital setting, the face mask was as good at preventing influenza infection as a purpose-made respirator.”

Ball added, “However, when you move to studies looking at their effectiveness in the general population, the data is less compelling – it’s quite a challenge to keep a mask on for prolonged periods of time.”