OTTAWA, Ont. — With the first cases of a new type of respiratory virus confirmed in Canada, health officials are collaborating more closely to better monitor the situation and any potential spread.
During a news conference late Monday afternoon Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's Chief Public Health Officer, announced that a federal-provincial-territorial special advisory committee on the novel coronavirus would be launched Tuesday. Tam said this committee will help the federal government work more closely with the provinces to monitor preparedness and response activities across Canada.
“We have all the chief medical officers participating to ensure we approach this event in a consistent way,” Tam said,
The House of Commons also consented unanimously on Monday to convene a special meeting of the health committee by Wednesday.
This comes after after public health officials in Ontario confirmed two cases of the virus in a man and his wife in their 50s who had been to Wuhan and travelled back to Canada via Pearson airport on Jan. 22. Only one of the cases has been verified federally.
Tam said about 25 more patient samples from a number of provinces are being tested by the national microbiology lab in Winnipeg, though she wouldn’t specify the origin of the samples.
Ontario is one of only a few provinces that have laboratory capacity to test for the virus, Tam said any confirmed samples will also be sent to Winnipeg for further analysis and standardization of the test which she hopes will eventually be rolled out at other labs across the country.
On Monday, Tam confirmed the couple infected with the virus were screened at the airport upon entry and said the husband was experiencing a mild cough upon arrival, but allowed to go on his way.
She said she believed the approach taken by Canadian Border Service Agents was appropriate given his symptoms at the time, and the fact that the couple contacted the health system when the symptoms began to mimic those of the coronavirus is proof the system is working.
Tam said though some anxiety among travellers is to be expected, information surfacing about the virus shows only limited person-to-person transmission and no clear evidence of patients being infectious before symptom onset.
“Canadians should not be concerned they can pick up the virus from an infected individual by any casual contact such as walking through the airport or any other public place,” Tam told reporters.
Ontario health officials are carrying out contact tracing for those seated close to the man on the flight as a precaution.
Despite growing anxiety about the virus, Tam said the cases identified in Canada do not change the risk assessment for Canadians, which is still low.
“We will expect individual importations like we've seen in Toronto but the important thing is to ensure further spread doesn't happen in Canada,” she said.
In the coming days, Tam said more public health officials will be dispatched to international airports in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver to assist border service agents in screening and provide resources to passengers.
Tam said there is no plan to restrict travel to or within Canada, as that is the current global consensus.
“The World Health Organization did not declare a public health emergency of international concern but they did look at the situation very carefully and the emergency committee. . .is advising against unnecessary travel and trade restrictions.”
She said the department will continue to monitor the situation closely.
The federal government has also launched a dedicated web portal to provide updates on the situation in Canada and abroad, including frequently asked questions for travellers as well as the general public of precautions, symptoms and what to do if you get sick.
