Tuesday January 28, 2020 ~ BC
~ West Shore Voice News
Today January 28 there has been confirmation of one case of the Wuhan Coronavirus in British Columbia.
The man in his 40s, who is a resident of Canada was travelling in China on business and was aware of the virus situation; he was reportedly asymptomatic until one day after arriving back home in the Vancouver area. When he developed symptoms he contacted a health care provider.
The announcement was made at 10 am by Health Minister Adrian Dix and Provincial Health Officer Dr Bonnie Henry.
“We do not feel there is a need to formally quarantine people who have been travelling in China,” said Dr Henry. She explained that the few people who were in contact with the affected person have been contacted and area being monitored closely.
BC is paying attention to the protection and care of front line health care workers. They will wear masks and eye protection when assessing or treating anyone who is suspected of having the Wuhan Coronavirus infection.
If people do develop systems, they are asked to isolate themselves away from others and to contact a health professional so that safe assessment can be arranged.
For everyone the broad message is to wash your hands regularly, cover your mouth when you cough, stay home when sick, and notify health personnel ahead of time when arranging to get care at a doctor’s office, clinic or hospital emergency department.
“If somebody has traveled to the area around Wuhan city or in contact with an ill person in that area, call ahead to their health provider, Emergency, or 811. Wear a mask when go to see health care provider, to be safely assessed and tested and get health care as needed,” said Dr Henry.
Apparently the virus is held in ‘heavy droplets’ that can fall quickly from a cough or sneeze, explained Dr Henry. Hence a 2-metre-distance being considered what it takes to be exposed to the virus from someone who has coughed or sneezed. However, the droplets can land on objects which can then be handled by people. Remembering not to touch your face or put food into your mouth with unwashed hands is important, she explained.
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.
Minister Dix repeated how proud he is of the professional performance of the BC Centre for Disease Control (BC CDC) and health care professionals in BC.
Dr Henry was in Toronto during the time in 2003 when SARS (another Corona virus that was not well understood when it first hit).
Dr Henry explained that the illness seems not to spread from people who are asymptomatic, but admits that people whose bodies are fighting the illness but are not becoming ill may not even realize they have the infection.
Minister Dix and Dr Henry assured the media at today’s news conference that all confirmed information about the virus will be conveyed to the public as soon as its available. More cases are expected, said Dr Henry.
As a way of avoiding rumors that might abound on social media, Dr Henry reminds people to visit the BC CDC website for accurate and reliable information. It is noted, that the last update of their “novel coronavirus” page was almost three days ago on January 25 (main page) though with a statistical update on the number of cases as of January 27, 2020 at 7 am PST:
Confirmed 2019-nCoV cases
Updated daily: January 27, 2020 at 7 AM PST
- Globally confirmed cases: 2,888 with 81 deaths
- Regions of China* confirmed cases: 2,846 with 81 deaths
- Elsewhere confirmed cases: 42 with 0 deaths
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====== ARTICLES by West Shore Voice News:
Wuhan Coronavirus kills 56 so far, spreading globally (see page 1 in the West Shore Voice News WEEKEND EDITION – published January 25, 2020)
BC Health Minister & Provincial Health Officer make statement on Wuhan Coronavirus (Saturday January 25, 2020)
Wuhan Coronavirus claims 41 lives so far (January 24, 2020)