Quebec public health authorities are asking travellers returning from the Chinese province of Hubei to self-impose a voluntary 14-day isolation to avoid spreading the coronavirus.
Quebec’s public health director, Dr. Horacio Arruda, however emphasized on Thursday that there is currently no case of the virus in the province.
According to Arruda, the recommendation of a self-imposed isolation period applies to 70 people across the country.
The request applies to all travellers returning to the country on Air China’s Thursday afternoon flight from Beijing to Montreal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport. All passengers were tested prior to boarding the plane and showed no signs of being infected.
Passengers are regardless asked to stay home, not go to work, not take public transportation and to avoid exposing older immunosuppressed people who would be much more vulnerable to the virus.
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It’s a matter of taking precaution, Arruda said.
Travellers returning from other Chinese provinces are asked to call Info Santé at 811 if they present flu-like symptoms, but they are not asked to abide by the 14-day quarantine.
The chances of people who currently have mild or even severe respiratory infections having a flu, pneumonia or any other virus is exceedingly high compared to the risk of having the coronavirus, Arruda said.
— With files from The Canadian Press
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