First Hubei province in China. Now Iran.

With a suspicious spike over the weekend of new coronavirus infections in Canada found in a handful of travellers from Iran, federal public health authorities raised the alert level for Iran to level three — the same as for Hubei which is considered the epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak.

That means the Canadian government is warning against all non-essential travel to Iran — as to China.

And officials are asking all travellers to Canada arriving from Iran, whether by air or land, to identify themselves to border officials, to self-isolate for 14 days, to report to local public health authorities within 24 hours of arrival, and to monitor themselves for symptoms of the disease.

Ottawa has also urged Canadians to avoid all non-essential travel to northern Italy, and some regions of South Korea, due to the virus.

If symptoms of the virus appear — most likely fever and a dry cough — individuals are asked to call ahead to a health institution or clinic and “not just show up,” Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said Monday.

In Canada, as of Monday, there are 27 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 18 in Ontario, eight in British Columbia, and one in Quebec. All are travellers from hot zones, or their “close contacts” with no person-to-person transmission in the community, said Tam.

Seventeen of Ontario’s confirmed cases have been in the GTA. The other Ontario case was in London.

Tam defended the government’s approach of voluntary self-isolation recommendations even in the face of reports that Washington State, bordering B.C., has seen an outbreak where six deaths have occurred. The virus surged in the U.S. last weekend, with two dozen new cases reported.

In Canada, Tam said 2,900 individuals have been tested to date. Until now, those tests were focused on people showing symptoms and with a history of travel to the affected countries, and their close contacts.

Testing and “surveillance” is being expanded in a number of jurisdictions across the country to include patients with signs of influenza or other respiratory viruses “to help us detect any further cases and potential spread,” she added.

Tam and her Ontario counterpart Dr. David Williams said the risk remains low at this point but the federal public agency has given “guidance” to local public health authorities about when and how to exercise their powers to shut down large gatherings, workplaces or schools.

“The health system, individuals and communities need to be prepared for the potential deployment of health measures to interrupt transmission chains,” Tam warned.

In Ontario, public health investigators are looking deeper into the travels of several people who returned from Egypt with COVID-19 to see if they attended the same function there, Williams said as the province reported three new cases of the novel coronavirus Monday.

Egypt has just two publicly reported cases of the illness so it’s unusual to see these infections popping up in greater numbers here, he added.

Of the three new cases, a woman in her late 60s and another woman in her 70s had both returned from Egypt on Feb. 20 and the third was a man in his 60s who flew back Feb. 23 from Iran, where the coronavirus is spreading quickly.

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“It sounds like there was an event in Egypt,” said Williams, adding another country that he would not specify is also experiencing an unusual blip in cases.

The woman in her 70s was diagnosed at North York General Hospital on Sunday. The other woman who returned the same day was seen at McKenzie Health in York Region on Saturday.

The male returned from Iran Feb. 23, went to North York General on Sunday as well and is a “close contact” of another Ontario case. All three of the new cases were sent home to self-isolate.

As the coronavirus spreads rapidly around the globe, Ontario is putting new structures in place to react to any outbreak scenarios should person-to-person transmission become a problem.

They include a “command table” reporting to Health Minister Christine Elliott to be headed by Deputy Health Minister Helen Angus and include Williams and other health, long-term care and ministry of labour officials. It will be informed by advice from a panel of bioethicists should difficult decisions have to be made on matters.

“We are prepared for any eventuality,” Elliott said Monday.

On Monday, the Toronto transit union called for more action to protect workers on the front lines, after a passenger on a Richmond Hill Go bus from Pearson airport tested positive.

Toronto’s medical officer of health Dr. Eileen De Villa said residents may want to stock up on supplies if they become sick with any illness, not just COVID-19 and be prepared to change “their daily routines to reduce their exposure to crowded places” if circumstances warrant.

Premier Doug Ford, who was at a mining convention on Monday, said he’s not worried to be out and about but the effect on business of the spread of the coronavirus is on his mind.

“I’ll tell you what I’m concerned about, the economy…we’ve seen all around the world how COVID-19 is affecting the economy.”

There have been no deaths in Canada from the new coronavirus, which has sickened more than 80,000 and killed at least 3,000, mainly in China. Only one patient has been hospitalized in Ontario, was sent home last month and has since recovered.

With files from Kristin Rushowy, May Warren

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