A second Canadian plane carrying evacuees from the quarantined region of Hubei, China, has landed at Canadian Forces Base Trenton in southern Ontario.
The plane carrying 185 passengers landed shortly after 6 a.m. ET on Tuesday.
The plane made a brief stop at the Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, B.C to refuel before continuing on towards Trenton.
In a tweet Tuesday morning, Canada’s chief medical officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, said to ensure the health and safety of the repatriated Canadians and the public “returning Canadians and their family members will continue to be assessed for symptoms of 2019-nCoV coronavirus throughout their 14 day stay at CFB Trenton.”
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Myriam Larouche, one of the 213 Canadians who were flown in Friday from the Chinese epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak, says life under quarantine at the base feels like summer camp.
On Monday, Tam authorized the release of one government employee and five flight crew members who assisted with the first evacuation flight, citing a low risk of exposure to the virus.
“In my assessment, I took into account the fact that they did not spend time in the epicentre of the outbreak, that they followed appropriate infection prevention and control protocols (including the use of personal protective equipment), and that they did not have unprotected contact with passengers or persons at risk of having the novel coronavirus,” Dr. Theresa Tam said in a statement.
“As a result of this assessment, I have determined that their continued quarantine is not required.”
So far, Tam said no one at CFB Trenton has shown signs of the new coronavirus.
Renowned Canadian epidemiologist Bruce Aylward made his way to China to lead a team of World Health Organization experts to study the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
Aylward and his team will be looking to the origin of the virus and the severity of the disease.
The virus has killed 1,016 people among 42,638 confirmed cases in mainland China, and infected more than 43,000 people globally.
In Canada, seven cases of the virus have been confirmed, four of them in British Columbia and three in Ontario.
– With files from Global News’ Hannah Jackson and The Associated Press
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