An update from the BC Ministry of Health on Tuesday confirmed that there have been no new cases of novel coronavirus in the province since last week.
The total number of coronavirus – newly renamed Covid-19 by the World Health Organization – cases in the province remains at four after two new cases were detected on February 6th.
“B.C. continues to have only four confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV. All four cases are in stable condition and are recovering in isolation at home. All close contacts of these cases are being followed closely by public health officials and remain asymptomatic,” said Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry in a joint statement on Tuesday.
See also: Two new cases of novel coronavirus confirmed in British Columbia
As of February 7th, the B.C. Centre for Disease Control has tested a total of 371 samples for Covid-19.
The two latest patients of coronavirus confirmed in BC were both visiting their relative in the Vancouver Coastal Health region from Hubei province, China – ground zero for the coronavirus outbreak.
According to Dr. Henry, one of the two individuals visiting from Hubei province had contracted a relatively mild case of novel coronavirus and therefore did not seek treatment.
Authorities believe this person is the source who infected the individual that was diagnosed with coronavirus earlier this week.
All the individuals who have either presumptive or confirmed cases of coronavirus in BC remain in isolation and several people in close contact with them are being monitored.
Tuesday’s statement also confirmed the arrival of a second airplane carrying Canadian passengers from Wuhan, China on Monday. The aircraft briefly touched down in Vancouver for refuelling before continuing to Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Trenton in Ontario.
No crew or passengers remained in B.C.
The Health Ministry also reiterated their call for tolerance in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
“Now is the time for tolerance. We call on all British Columbians to come together as a community to help one another,” reads the statement.
“In this time of uncertainty, this is not only the right response, but the necessary one. Fear obstructs the important work of our public health officials to protect the health and safety of British Columbians.”
As of the time of publication, there are over 1,000 deaths related to Covid-19 in mainland China.
