As of Feb. 8, 2020, seven cases of the 2019 novel coronavirus have been confirmed in Canada- three in Ontario and four in British Columbia, according to the federal government’s website.
In Ontario, a husband and wife from Toronto both tested positive for the new coronavirus, along with a woman in her 20s from London, Ont. All three patients travelled to Wuhan, China – which is said to be the epicentre of the outbreak.
Toronto General Hospital on the corner of Gerrard Street West and University Avenue. (Matthew Chong, 2020)
Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease physician at Toronto General Hospital said that even though the risk remains “extraordinarily low, we still have to be aware and alert and stay up to date.”
“We know that we live in an interconnected world. We know there is transfer as people travel,” Bogoch said. “Even with the current restrictions there’s still a lot of global travel and we should not be surprised if there are more cases imported to Canada.”
The single most common question that doctors have received in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak is whether or not to wear a mask in public. Dr. Bogoch said that masks “don’t significantly reduce the risk of getting an infection.”
“Your risk of acquiring this infection in Canada today is close to zero per cent,” said Bogoch.
Bogoch often said that he had to be careful with his words because the virus is still very new and did not want to make any assumptions. He said that he did not know who is or is not most vulnerable to the virus.
“Early data suggests that maybe, we’ve got to be careful with our words, maybe older individuals with other medical conditions may be more prone to severe infections. But we just don’t know yet,” he said.
According to Bogoch, the 2019 novel coronavirus is more severe than the common cold or the flu.
A picture of the Toronto General Hospital from outside the College Street and University Avenue Starbucks location. (Matthew Chong, 2020)
In an email statement, the Ministry of Health spokesperson David Jensen reiterated that the risk to Ontarians “remains low.”
The statement from Jensen read that as of Feb. 6, “the number of negative cases increased – now up to 104 – as both the Public Health Ontario Laboratory and the National Microbiological Laboratory confirmed negative test results.”
“We anticipate the overall number of Ontarians who will be tested for 2019 novel coronavirus to increase as authorities continue to screen and test individuals who meet the current case definition which include symptoms and travel history to Hubei province,” the statement read.
Many Ontarians noted that they were concerned about the novel coronavirus spreading globally. On Jan. 20, 2020, there were only 282 confirmed cases worldwide. On Feb. 7, less than three weeks later, that number jumped significantly to just over 31,400 positively confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization.
University of Guelph-Humber spokesperson Ken Turriff (Matthew Chong, 2020)
“We are meeting with hospitals, paramedics and local public health units near Pearson International Airport to provide further information on the federal border screening measures,” read the statement from the Ministry of Health.
University of Guelph-Humber spokesperson Ken Turriff, said the school sent an email to students and faculty on Jan. 27, which explains the most up-to-date information the school received from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Toronto Public Health.
“We don’t take any information from rumour and unverified sources,” Turriff said.
The Ontario government has launched a dedicated website with up-to-date information on the coronavirus.