Proposed coronavirus quarantine period for Canadians sufficient, says expert

TORONTO (NEWS 1130) — Once the Canadians are brought home from the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak, one expert believes the quarantine period will be more than adequate.

Isaac Bogoch is an infectious diseases specialist and scientist at the University of Toronto. He says the two-week-isolation period for people coming in from Wuhan should be more than enough, citing a study of people infected in China that has just been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

“They really did demonstrate that the incubation is mostly five to six days and not really longer than 11 days. So 14 days seems to be a very reasonable amount of time to make sure that someone doesn’t come down with signs of symptoms of the infection,” he explains.

As the virus is reported in more countries, Bogoch says the use of the term pandemic is premature, which is when there is a significant person-to-person infection outside of the country of origin.

“We’re not seeing wide-scale transmission outside China just yet. Of course, anything can change, but this is not being considered a pandemic.”

He notes China has imposed unprecedented control efforts for the virus with travel restrictions, masks, and people staying close to home.

According to the government, 304 Canadians have asked to leave China, and 280 of them are citizens. A rapid deployment team is on the ground in Wuhan and the aircraft is on standby in Hanoi, Vietnam as officials await approvals from Beijing.

With files from Hana Mae Nassar

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