12 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Canada, however none of those are in Alberta.

As of February 26, 2020, there have been seven confirmed cases in B.C. and five in Ontario.

Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health has provided an update on the situation, saying the risk of coronavirus in the province remains low, with no confirmed or probable cases.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw says in recent days there has been an increase of cases being reported in countries outside of China.

“The fact is, the global situation is changing rapidly,” says Hinshaw. “Although China continues to have the highest number of cases, the spread of this virus to new countries is concerning. We do not know what direction the outbreak will take next, but we do know that we need to be prepared for a scenario where COVID-19 continues to spread in countries around the world.”

Going forward, Hinshaw says they are expanding testing protocol to include the following areas in addition to China:

  • Hong Kong
  • Singapore
  • Iran
  • South Korea
  • Japan
  • Italy

“We ask any travelers returning from these areas, in addition to those returning from mainland China, to monitor their symptoms for 14 days after returning,” says Hinshaw. She says travelers are not required to self-isolate at this time unless they are returning from China’s Hubei province.

Hinshaw advises anyone with symptoms including fever and coughing to stay home and call Health Link at 811 with any concerns. She also says businesses and employers should be reviewing protocols and ensuring their own plans are in place in case of an outbreak.

Hinshaw acknowledges that while COVID-19 has a risk of turning into a pandemic, it’s not there yet and there is time to prepare, which is what the province is doing by continuing to closely monitor the situation. Hinshaw says they are reviewing, refining, and building on reaction plans that were developed in 2009 when H1N1 was spreading. Those plans included things like ensuring the health system was ready to respond with influenza assessment centres.

To avoid getting or spreading any kind of illness, Hinshaw offers the following advice:

  • stay home when sick
  • cover coughs and sneezes
  • stay 1m away from anyone coughing or sneezing
  • regularly wash hands
  • avoid touching face with unwashed hands
  • have a 3-day supply of medication, food, and water on hand at home

As for those making travel plans, Hinshaw says the best thing to do is watch the latest travel advice from the Public Health Agency of Canada.

“People have to make travel plans well in advance, so they may end up in a difficult situation where they’re trying to decide should they change plans that they’ve already made even though our current recommendation has no restrictions against the destination they’re going to,” says Hinshaw. “I can’t say one way or another whether somebody should change now but I do think people should watch very closely to see if the situation evolves if the place they’re planning to go to is one that’s potentially impacted.”

Further details and the latest information about COVID-19 is available HERE.