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Canadians who arrived on Friday, Feb 7th on the two flights from Wuhan have 7 days left out of their 14 days of quarantine at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Trenton. The 158 persons who arrived Feb 11th on the third flight from Wuhan, have 11 days left of their 14 day quarantine at CFB in Trenton. So far all is good with everyone. Please see here the situational report #20 dated Feb. 14, 2020, received this evening from the Ministry of Health’s Emergency Operations Centre (EOC). You will see also important materials: 1) LHIN Algorithm: here; 2) Community Labs Guideline here; 3) Independent Health Facilities (IHF) Guidance here; 4) Pharmacies Guidance here; 5) Public Health Management of Cases and Contacts (version 3.0) here; 6) At-a-Glance Risk Levels and Precautions for COVID-19 here The number of confirmed cases reported to us today by the EOC, in Canada, is unchanged – seven; three persons in Ontario and four in BC. All are recovering at home in self-isolation. In Ontario, at this time, there are 8 persons under investigation with lab results pending. The young woman in London, Ontario (third confirmed case), has fully recovered, and her case is considered resolved. Media reports that Canada has an eighth presumptive case of coronavirus in British Columbia, not yet reported by EOC. We hear that supplies continue to disappear and that is a risk to all, should we need them. Please continue to remind colleagues that health professionals’ need for supplies, including N95 masks, are being attended according to risk assessment. Health care providers facing immediate supply needs regarding personal protective equipment can email the ministry at EOCLogistics.MOH@ontario.ca. A reminder to all to be up-to-date on EOC information: http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/pro/programs/publichealth/coronavirus/2019_guidance.aspx. Beyond Canada, there is currently a cruise ship in quarantine off the coast of Japan with a phased disembarkment in-progress. The ship has 12 Canadians with confirmed cases of COVID-19. Three are in a local hospital –two in stable condition and one in serious condition – who are keeping our hopes that all will recover well. The rest of the passengers are in self-isolation in the Diamond Princess cruise ship, to you - we know the stress you are undergoing and hope to have you all back home soon! The Holland America Line cruise ship that was rejected from docking at five ports over fears of the COVID-2019, was allowed to dock yesterday in the port of Sihanoukville, Cambodia. We echo Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General at the World Health Organization, in thanking the government of Cambodia for their solidarity and humanity. Situation Report 25 from the WHO updates that worldwide, there are 49,053 laboratory-confirmed (2056 new) cases of COVID-19 and 1383 deaths (122 new), mainly in China. These are laboratory-confirmed cases; you may have seen larger numbers reported elsewhere since Hubei province has changed their reporting criteria for cases, resulting in a large spike in case count numbers for China according to the new definition. The second death has been reported outside of China, in Japan. This individual did not have known travel history to China. WHO reports that in China, health care workers account for 1716 confirmed cases of COVID-19 including six deaths. WHO current risk assessment level for the COVID-19 virus is “very high” for China and “high” for the regional and global levels. Ontario’s EOC assures us that Canada risk assessment remains low. Further from the WHO, nearly 400 world scientists met at WHO’s Geneva Headquarters from 11 to 12 February 2020 to assess the current level of knowledge about the new COVID-19 virus, agree on critical research questions that need to be answered urgently, and identify ways to work together to accelerate and fund priority research that can contribute to curtail this outbreak and prepare for future outbreaks. For those requiring advanced technical information, the WHO has a website with technical guidance. We are here to hear from you and your teams should you be experiencing any challenges – please send your emails directly to me at dgrinspun@rnao.ca. You can also access the health provider hotline and website regarding questions about the outbreak, protocols, preparedness, and more. The toll free number is 1-866-212-2272, and the health provider website, updated regularly with useful resources, can be accessed here. An important reminder that the health provider website and the toll free number are for you – as a health professional – and not for members of the general public. The ministry’s public website on the COVID-19 exists to inform the general public – encourage your family and friends to access this public website. We also have information for the public on our website at www.rnao.ca which we update daily. The WHO has provided an excellent link for you to share with members of the public here. Many thanks to all our health professionals in Ontario – especially the ones working at CFB Trenton, to those working in the cruise ships, and the thousands of professionals dedicating their expertise to the people in China and other affected countries: We stand with you! Doris Grinspun, RN,MSN, PhD, LLD(hon), Dr(hc), FAAN, O.ONT
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