Coronavirus: Province says risk remains low as WHO calls global health emergency – Gananoque Reporter

Despite the World Health Organization declaring a global health emergency, Alberta health officials are reaffirming that local risk from novel coronavirus remains low.

Alberta’s chief medical officer, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, said Thursday that screening tests have still not resulted in any probable or confirmed cases of the virus in the province.

“The cases that we’ve seen in Canada are all travel-related and measures have been taken to isolate them and prevent infection from spreading,” Hinshaw said. “At this time, the risk to Albertans is still considered to be low, even though the World Health Organization has made this declaration.”

No immediate changes to Alberta’s approach will be made, Hinshaw said. She notes that the virus’s risk is lower in the province than elsewhere in the country because there are no direct flights from China to Alberta airports.

Hinshaw was not able to confirm the number of people the province had tested for coronavirus to date.

The WHO’s Thursday decision to declare coronavirus a global health emergency comes as the number of confirmed cases worldwide climbs over 9,400, with 212 deaths from the virus.

There have been three confirmed or presumptive positive coronavirus cases in Canada, including in British Columbia. That province’s public health officials said Monday a Vancouver-area man who had recently returned from a business trip to Wuhan, China, the centre of the outbreak, had tested positive after experiencing symptoms of the virus.

The federal government is preparing a charter flight to bring healthy Canadians stranded in China home. Hinshaw says the province is working with federal officials on the repatriation effort but details are scarce, including how many Albertans will be returning.

“We haven’t yet heard specifically those people will be brought back, when they will land and what those next steps will be,” Hinshaw said. “When we do get that information, we will be happy to share it.”

Some local agencies and schools with ties to China have reacted to the coronavirus breakout by cancelling travel or business plans.

The University of Calgary said Thursday it has suspended all university-related travel to China, including for seven students who were previously scheduled to study abroad there this semester.

“In order to protect the safety and well-being of UCalgary students, faculty and staff, the university is taking this precautionary measure and will continue to monitor for any new developments and will adjust our protocols as required,” the school said in a statement.

The U of C is also helping to make travel arrangements for three of its members — an undergraduate student, a graduate student and a faculty member — currently in Beijing.

In Edmonton, the University of Alberta is similarly cancelling or postponing all non-essential travel to China. The school has two students currently studying abroad in China, but that they are each in regions unaffected by coronavirus and are known to be safe.

A spring break trip to Beijing for students at Webber Academy has also been cancelled. It’s the first time the school has ever had to cancel one of its trips abroad, which are part of its language programs, said Barbara Webber, the academy’s vice-president administration.

“We had 36 children signed up for that trip, as well as four chaperones,” Webber said. “A couple weeks ago we decided we wouldn’t be going because there were just too many unanswered questions, even if things improved right away.”

Travel Alberta, which promotes the province as a tourist destination in China, has suspended its marketing in the country until further notice.

“We are aware of some trip cancellations,” said Travel Alberta CEO Royce Chwin in a statement. “However, it’s too early to know what impact this will have on Alberta tourism. We are monitoring the situation and will keep in touch with our industry partners.

“We are asking partners to accept tour cancellation requests and offer refunds to Chinese visitors to assist them during a difficult time. This is an exceptional circumstance that goes beyond tourism.”

The Southern Alberta Institute of Technology tweeted that a “coronavirus-related” hoax took place on the school’s campus Thursday afternoon, with police investigating the incident.

“It looks like it was a prank that happened earlier with some people running through with Hazmat suits,” said SAIT associate director of communications Chris Gerritsen. “There’s lots of hoaxes around, there’s lots of disinformation around. In this time of heightened emotions around it, there’s no place for pranks like that.”

Hinshaw said she understands many Albertans may be feeling anxious about the health threat and said it’s important people get their information from reliable sources.

Coronavirus is a respiratory virus that has symptoms of a runny nose, fever, sore throat or coughing. Though a case of person-to-person transmission has been confirmed in the United States, coronavirus is most likely in those with a history of travel to Wuhan or who has been in close contact with a person who has recently travelled to Wuhan.

If any Albertans have specific concerns about exposure to or symptoms of coronavirus, Hinshaw recommends they call the Health Link hotline at 811.

jherring@postmedia.com

Twitter: @jasonfherring