Case with no connection to China raises concerns over virus's international spread

THUNDER BAY – Canada’s Minister of Health says a presumed case of COVID-19 involving a B.C. woman travelling home from Iran – with no connection to China – is causing Canada to re-examine its approach to the virus. Minister and Thunder Bay MP Patty Hajdu told Tbnewswatch it’s also a “case of interest” for the World Health Organization, as health authorities seek to contain the virus’s expansion beyond China.

Hajdu stressed that the vast majority of cases are still in China’s Hubei region – “but this new case indicates we have to do some more examination around global containment efforts and what that means for our own particular approach in Canada,” she said.

Hajdu’s comments come as a growing outbreak in South Korea – with over 600 cases, most announced in recent days – sparks international fears. Passengers aboard a South Korean passenger airplane were turned back by Israeli authorities, save for a handful of that country’s citizens, on Saturday evening.

The Health Minister said the federal government will be working with international health authorities to investigate the Iran case and identify those the woman had come in contact with on her return. She believed those contacts to be relatively minimal, though some close family members are being monitored in quarantine.

“In her case, she was a single individual with very few personal contacts,” Hajdu said, “but we’ll be following up with the people affected as we understand more about her case”

A B.C. health lab found the woman tested positive for the new coronavirus. While those results still need to be confirmed by a federal lab, Hajdu said authorities presume the result is accurate.

Hajdu said health advisories in Canadian airports have been adjusted to apply to anyone returning from international destinations, with those who “feel unwell or unsure about [their] health” directed to speak with health authorities.

The Thunder Bay-Superior North MP emphasized the health risk to Canadians remains “very low,” and that the country has experienced relatively few cases.