Risk of coronavirus for Manitobans still low after global health emergency declared

Although the World Health Organization has declared a global health emergency over novel coronavirus, a Manitoba health official says people living in the province are at a low risk to get it.

The province is doing all it needs to do to protect citizens, said Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba's chief provincial health officer.

"Despite the WHO declaring the public health emergency of international concern, the risk for Manitobans regarding novel coronavirus remains low," he said Friday.

"This declaration from the WHO is not unexpected and a correct step, in my opinion, but it doesn't change our risk assessment in Manitoba at this point."

In Hubei, the Chinese province at the centre of the epidemic, the death toll had risen above 200 and the number of cases of infection neared 10,000 in China on Thursday, Chinese health authorities said. No deaths have been reported outside of China.

Case numbers are increasing in China, but there's been no widespread transmission outside that country.

The province isn't changing the way it's responding to the outbreak after the WHO declaration, Roussin said.

"This doesn't change our response. We continue to work with the Public Health Agency of Canada and the WHO to monitor and adapt, as needed."

There are no laboratory-confirmed cases in Manitoba, the province said Friday in a news release.

As of Thursday, three tests completed in the province were negative.

Roussin hopes Manitobans will consult trusted health officials for information about the outbreak, including Canada's and Manitoba's public health agencies.

All suspected and confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus must be reported.

Canada's public health officials are backing what the province is saying as health authorities across the country continue to monitor the risk and prevent its spread.

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"We see that when viruses start in certain countries, there's a fear and sometimes discrimination towards people returning from those countries," Roussin said.

"Fear and discrimination are only going to impair our ability to deal with this public health issue."

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