Areas where the coronavirus has been confirmed. (click on image for link to live, updated map)
Canada is now reporting its second case of the novel coronavirus, but officials say the threat to British Columbia remains low.
The wife of Canada’s first victim of novel coronavirus has now become the second presumptive case of the virus in this country.
As of the writing of this, there have been 2,886 cases worldwide, with 81 deaths as a result.
A cluster of cases is occurring in Wuhan City, China, with the vast majority (2,825) occurring in Mainland China. Other cases are occurring in Hong Kong (8), Thailand (8), Macau (6) and iwth Australia, Taiwan and the United States all at five confirmed cases.
The two cases in Canada are both in Ontario, in the Toronto area.
The B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) still maintains this province is at a low risk for contamination.
“BCCDC and provincial and federal authorities are monitoring the situation closely,” says the BCCDC website. “To date, there have been no cases of illness caused by the coronavirus in British Columbia.”
The exact method of transmission has not yet been determined, but cases emerging among health care workers do suggest a human-to-human transmission of some type.
The BCCDC is asking anyone who has been travelling who has developed fever, coughing, difficulty breathing or pneumonia in both lungs, to contact their health care provider immediately.
Public Health Agency Canada has issued a Travel Health Notice for people planning to travel to China to avoid non-essential travel.
PHAC is also recommending frequent washing of hands, avoiding contact with live animals at farms and markets, avoid eating raw animals and avoid surfaces where animal secretions, such as blood or droppings, may have been.
In a statement issued last week, B.C.’s Minister of Health Adrian Dix said the province is taking every measure to ensure the safety of those in BC.
“In co-ordination with the Public Health Agency of Canada, our public health teams are responding by closely monitoring the situation and have implemented screening for early detection of infections for individuals arriving in airports,” Dix said in the release. “Quarantine officers are available at Vancouver International Airport to co-ordinate any response required, and Richmond Hospital infection control practitioners are ready to respond to any potential scenario where a patient may require further investigation.”
More information regarding the travel warnings and the coronavirus can be found at the BCCDC website.