With a second case of the Wuhan coronavirus in Toronto this week, Chatham-Kent health officials are confident they can handle any local patients.
The Chatham-Kent Health Alliance is working closely with the Public Health Unit, Ministry of Health, and Public Health Agency of Canada to monitor the situation.
Health Alliance CEO Lori Marshall says lessons have been learned from the 2003 SARS outbreak.
“Public health and health care workers understand these infections diseases much more than we did back then,” Marshall says. “We don’t send a fire fighter into a burning building without their protective equipment, hospital staff and physicians, when caring for individuals who may have an infectious disease understand the personal protective equipment that they need to be wearing, and that we’re doing appropriate and proper screening.”
Marshall says they have a pandemic plan in place, and with the global economy making out-of-country travel more common, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Marshall says the hospitals have a pandemic plan in place.
“There are all kinds of actions and activities at work across our municipality that all of our partners are part of to help keep our community safe.”
The hospitals in both Chatham and Wallaceburg are stocked with hand sanitizer, masks, and signs warning people to wash their hands and use precautions if they’re experiencing flu-like symptoms.
Common symptoms of infection include fever, cough and respiratory symptoms such as shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. Officials say there is a low mortality rate associated with the Wuhan coronavirus, especially in comparison to SARS. Most individuals infected by the virus will recover. Thus far, fatalities have been mainly people with underlying serious health problems.