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“We are a step ahead of the policy … but we believe it’s the right thing to do,” said Zheng, who noted he and his colleagues are on the “front lines,” serving patients daily who have just returned from China.

“This is about containing the virus, this is about isolation of the virus, not isolation of people,” he said. “It has nothing to do with discrimination whatsoever. It’s a global fight against this virus. Let’s contain it if we can.”

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) requires people who have been in Wuhan — the Chinese city at the epicentre of the new epidemic — to isolate themselves for 14 days after landing in Canada.

Others who come from China are urged to monitor their symptoms and report any that could be signs of COVID-19 to local public-health authorities, but not to automatically self-quarantine.

Zheng said the letter was written Tuesday night after public-health officials warned that the new coronavirus could soon turn into a pandemic, potentially spreading widely between people in Canada.

This is about isolation of the virus, not isolation of people

Those comments prompted panic in the Chinese-Canadian community, with many people stockpiling food and medication, actions he said will do little to protect them. Getting them to stay home for two weeks after returning from China makes much more sense, said the physician.

In fact, he said virtually all of his patients, as well as friends and acquaintances, have already been going into quarantine on their own after recent China trips. But he is aware that some do not.