B.C. prepares for outbreak of coronavirus, as Chinese authorities shut down travel out of Wuhan
Credit to Author: Tiffany Crawford| Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2020 21:24:42 +0000
A new coronavirus that has caused the deaths of at least 17 people in China, spread to at least four other countries, and sickened more than 500 people, has forced authorities to shut down travel out of the city where it started.
In Wuhan, a city of 11-million people in central China, and the centre of the outbreak, authorities have severely restricted travel. People’s Daily China reports that no residents of Wuhan will be allowed to leave the city. Train stations, airports, subways, ferries and buses will shut down, the state media agency reported Wednesday.
The news comes as the World Health Organization was meeting in Geneva Wednesday to determine whether the virus, which causes respiratory illness like pneumonia, is an international health emergency.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the organization’s director-general, said they need more information.
“For that reason, I have decided to ask the emergency committee to meet again tomorrow to continue their discussion and the chair has agreed with that request,” he said, at the meeting Wednesday.
“The decision about whether or not to declare a public health emergency of international concern is one I take extremely seriously, and one I’m only prepared to make with appropriate consideration of all of the evidence.”
The virus was first detected last month in Wuhan, in central China, but has since been confirmed in other cities in China, as well as in Thailand, Japan, South Korea and the United States.
In the U.S., authorities said a man in his 30s near Seattle, who had recently travelled from Wuhan, was free from symptoms when he arrived at Seattle-Tacoma airport last Wednesday but contacted doctors Sunday when he started experiencing flu-like symptoms. He was hospitalized and tested positive for the coronavirus Monday, according to the Seattle Times.
Here in B.C., health officials are “closely monitoring” the outbreak.
Officials have not said what steps are being taken at Vancouver-area hospitals, and Vancouver Coastal Health Authority deferred all questions to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control and the Public Health Agency of Canada.
B.C. disease control officials said there are no confirmed cases in B.C., and officials say the risk remains low.
However, they are stepping up messaging and screening at airports, and B.C.’s provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says quarantine officers are available at Vancouver International Airport to respond to any sick passengers. They will investigate any potential cases with Richmond Hospital infection control practitioners.
The B.C. Centre for Disease Control says it has developed a diagnostic test for the new coronavirus, which health authorities say is different from the SARS outbreak when there was no similar test
Health officials are asking anyone that may have been exposed to the virus to contact their primary care provider, local public health office or call 811.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, the federal NDP health critic Don Davies said while there are no confirmed cases in Canada, international cases of the virus are troubling to Canadians and reinforce the need for on-going monitoring and preparedness.
“The federal government must make sure Canadians have timely and complete information. They also need to provide sufficient resources at Canadian ports of entry for screening, particularly at airports,” he said.