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The B.C. Dental Association said in a statement that upon learning of the case they immediately contacted public health officials for direction.

Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) confirmed a delegate tested positive and says it has notified attendees about a possible exposure to COVID-19 at the conference on March 6. The person who attended the conference with COVID-19 is recovering at home and there is no continuing risk to the community, nor is there any further risk posed at the convention centre, the VCH said in a statement Thursday.

Health officials say they have completed a risk assessment and concluded that the risk to participants is extremely low.

“When that individual was at the conference, that’s when they first started to notice symptoms,” VCH medical health officer John Harding said. “I’d like to reiterate that individuals that are asymptomatic are not a risk for spreading it to others, when they begin to develop symptoms there, the risk of transmission begins. So that individual would oppose the very low risk to others.”

VCH is asking participants who attended the conference to monitor themselves for symptoms such as fever, cough, headache and shortness of breath for up to 14 days and call HealthLink B.C. at 811 for advice if they develop symptoms. As long as participants of the conference remain healthy and don’t develop symptoms, VCH said there is no need to self-isolate.

The dentist who tested positive doesn’t work at Patterson but gave a presentation at several of the conference booths, including Patterson Dental’s booth. Brown said the self-quarantine affects about 60-65 employees across four provinces, including sales staff, technicians and head-office members. He added that three employees in B.C. are being tested for the virus as a precaution, but that none have received results. None of Patterson’s employees has tested positive for COVID-19.