Saturday January 25, 2020 ~ BC
~ West Shore Voice News
A joint statement on first Canadian case of the Wuhan coronavirus has been issued this afternoon by Minister of Health Adrian Dix and Dr Bonnie Henry, BC’s provincial health officer.
The statement is in light of the first Canadian instance of a confirmed case of the news coronavirus, which is in Ontario. Here is the text of the statement in full:
“We can confirm that a resident of Ontario is presumed positive for the novel coronavirus that arose late last year in Wuhan, China.
“To date, there have been no cases of illness caused by the novel coronavirus in British Columbia and the overall risk to BC is still considered low.
“We know our colleagues in Ontario will continue to work with their local health officials and the federal health authorities to ensure every measure is taken to prevent the spread of this virus.
“We are closely watching the situation in Canada and globally, and are meeting regularly with our counterparts across the country to make sure we are prepared if cases arise in BC.
“The BC Centre for Disease Control has developed a diagnostic test for this new coronavirus, and they are coordinating staff and supplies to ensure they are prepared to quickly and accurately detect potential cases.” In addition, health-care workers have been asked to be vigilant and take a travel history for anyone reporting respiratory symptoms.
The testing for the virus involves checking three different protein areas and comparing to the sequence of genome “that matches exactly to the Coronavirus” in the case of the man in BC.
“Anyone who is concerned they may have been exposed to, or are experiencing symptoms of the novel coronavirus, particularly if you have travelled to areas of China where the virus is active or been in contact with ill people from that area, should contact their health-care provider, local public health office or call 811.”
For more information and latest updates, visit http://www.bccdc.ca
==== Other articles on this topic:
41 deaths so far (all in China) from the new Wuhan Coronavirus ~ West Shore Voice News (January 24, 2020)