Coronavirus containment window shrinking as virus spreads to more countries
OTTAWA — Canada’s border measures to guard the country against incoming cases of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, will likely become less effective as the virus spreads, the country’s chief medical officer Dr. Theresa Tam said Monday.
Canada has so far been able to detect and isolate cases of coronavirus as patients arrive in Canada thanks, in part, to passenger screening at international airports. So far Canada has confirmed 11 cases of the virus.
The most recent patient, a British Columbia man in his 40s, contracted the virus after coming into close contact with a woman who was infected on a recent trip to Iran. He showed symptoms before the woman was diagnosed.
The virus has also begun to spread from person to person in several countries outside China, where COVID-19 was first detected. The last few days have seen sudden increases of cases in Italy, Iran and South Korea.