Evidence of meeting #3 for Health in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was china.
A video is available from Parliament.
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
I see. Is there any concern for the other passengers on the plane who might have been in contact or close contact with this individual or individuals?
Provincial Health Officer, Office of the Provincial Health Officer, British Columbia
Not at all.
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Okay.
In terms of preparedness for the virus here in British Columbia.... Someone approached my constituency office asking us to buy masks. There's that sense of concern in the broader community, and I'm just wondering if you could share information with us that we can pass on to our constituents about our state of readiness so that people can hopefully allay their concerns.
Provincial Health Officer, Office of the Provincial Health Officer, British Columbia
That's one of the reasons why I was late coming here, because we've been doing press briefings about what people can do and what they don't need to do within our community. I spent the weekend talking with a lot of the ethnic media in Vancouver about the issues and risks here in Vancouver. We have a lot of materials, and they're available through the BCCDC website. That is our source of truth, if you will, here in British Columbia. There's a lot of information there. We also have information that we've been giving out through a variety of different sources.
If there are specific things you're looking for, we're happy to provide them.
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Thank you.
You have updated, Dr. Henry, from the previous media appearance to say that individuals who may have been in contact with...or may have travelled from Wuhan to British Columbia should self-isolate for 14 days. That's what I've read in the media. Is that correct?
Provincial Health Officer, Office of the Provincial Health Officer, British Columbia
That is slightly nuanced. What we've said is that.... We know that during this very critical time there are people who have been in Hubei province, so not just Wuhan but the other cities where there is a lot of ongoing transmission. From watching what is happening and the evolution of the outbreak in China, it's becoming very apparent that that is where the concentration of transmission continues to be.
We're in that time period where there are still small numbers of people coming from that area and where some people who have come prior to the travel restrictions being put in place are still within that incubation period, some of them at the very end.
We want everybody to be exceptionally careful right now, so we have recommended that people who have come from Hubei province self-isolate at home, and we will support them in doing that. That means not going to school and not going to work until they are 14 days away from that contact in Hubei province.
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Is that just limited to Hubei, or does it extend to other areas of China as well?
I ask this question because British Columbia has a lot of individuals whose home province historically is Guangdong province, and the virus has spread to Guangdong as well. I ask this question in that context.
February 5th, 2020 / 5:25 p.m.
Provincial Health Officer, Office of the Provincial Health Officer, British Columbia
Right now what we're talking about in the messages we've put out is focusing on Hubei, because we know that as the numbers increase, the percentage of cases that are related to Hubei is still going up. That tells us that the transmission there is what is really driving this right now, so we have focused on Hubei.
We've focused on everybody who has travelled to China or has had contact with somebody from Hubei. They need to be exceptionally careful, particularly right now because we know we're in that incubation period of time when people can develop symptoms. We're putting out the message for everybody who has travelled to be really careful and to monitor themselves and their children for any symptoms, and then to self-isolate and contact us immediately.
The focus about staying home, even if you are well, is focused around Hubei province.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ron McKinnon
Thank you, Ms. Kwan.
Regrettably, we've come to the point where we have to bring this meeting to a close. I apologize.
Is there anything you can leave us with, a quick one-minute statement that we can take away?
Provincial Health Officer, Office of the Provincial Health Officer, British Columbia
Sure. We have been working very closely with our colleagues across the country and have talked to Dr. de Villa and others and the Public Health Agency of Canada to try to have a coordinated approach to this. We are watching this very carefully, and we have stood up what we call our emergency response structure with our EOC provincially here in British Columbia to make sure we have those common messages that go to everybody.
I think the detection that we found of these two cases so far—I expect there may be others—really shows us that our public health system is working, that we have what we need in place and that we have the laboratory testing we need, at least in British Columbia. It's going to be a bit of watching what's going on in the rest of the world and hoping, in many ways, that what is happening in China will prevent this from becoming a widespread pandemic.
The message that I have been putting out to everybody is that the things we do at this time of the year, all the time, are the things that are going to protect us from this virus right now. That is washing your hands regularly, keeping your hands away from your face, covering your cough, and staying home and away from others when you are ill.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ron McKinnon
Thank you, Dr. Henry, and thank you to all of our witnesses.
With that, we'll adjourn the meeting.