Ottawa Public Health has been readying for the appearance of coronavirus and won’t change its response even as officials announced Saturday that they believed the disease had arrived in Canada.

No change in public health response is needed in Ottawa, given the identification of a presumptive case in Toronto,” Ottawa’s medical officer of health, Dr. Vera Etches tweeted Saturday evening. “We have been preparing for the possibility of cases in Canada. @ottawahealth follows the same process as @TOPublicHealth in performing case and contact management.”

On Saturday afternoon, public health officials in Toronto announced a man in his 50s who had recently flown to Canada from Wuhan, China, was being treated at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Hospital after falling ill. Tests for the virus came back at mid-day Saturday as “presumptive positive.”

Ottawa Public Health is asking travellers returning from China or other areas affected by a potentially deadly coronavirus to monitor themselves for symptoms of respiratory ailments for 14 days. Anyone who develops a fever, cough or breathing difficulties within two weeks of travelling to Wuhan or its neighbouring provinces should isolate themselves and seek a medical assessment.

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