Walking a dog in the park is still permitted and considered safe as long the owner maintains the four square metre rule with other humans.

But dog owners in New Zealand are being instructed to go a step further, as the entire nation enters its fifth day of lockdown.

Kiwis are being told to keep their pets in the “family bubble” and not allow them to have interaction with other humans outside the home.

The reason? Someone infected with coronavirus could pat the dog, and the pet could return home with residues of the virus still on its coat.

Animals can’t catch the virus, but they can act as a conduit for infection.

Traces of the virus may be on animal fur. File image. Credit: Getty Images

“If I cough on my hands, stroke a dog’s head, and then a kid comes along, strokes the dog’s head, and then touches their face ... that’s a way of transferring infection,” Professor David Hayman, an infectious disease ecology expert at Massey University, explained to Stuff.co.nz.

Cats, on the other hand, should not be let out of the house at all, Hayman said, because a cat owner can never be sure where their pet may have roamed.

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Veterinary experts admit the risk for transmission through this path is low, however.

Health experts know COVID-19 survives on hard, immovable surfaces like metal and glass longer than it does on soft flexible surfaces such as fur and textiles.

Pets as well as humans should practice social distancing. File image. Credit: Getty

Professor Jacqui Norris from the Sydney School of Veterinary Science at the University of Sydney told 7NEWS.com.au that specific studies on fur have not yet been done.

“Animal coats have natural antiviral and antibacterial properties on them that would restrict the ability of a coronavirus like SARS-CoV-2 - the cause of COVID-19 - to survive,” she said.

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“It is, however, important to keep all living creatures, including pets, away from people sick with COVID-19.

“This is an important precaution for a virus that we have only known about for four months.

“As a precaution, I would suggest all members of a healthy household, including the humans and pets, practise social distancing from other households and that includes their pets.”