Provincial health officer says four people with coronavirus in B.C. doing well

VANCOUVER – British Columbia’s provincial health officer says four people diagnosed with the novel coronavirus are doing well in isolation and would be cleared of the illness after two negative tests, 24 hours apart.

Dr. Bonnie Henry says the individuals in the Vancouver region are being monitored by health professionals and three of them are living in a home with others.

She says those who are ill have been instructed to sleep in separate areas of the house, wear masks, not to share food and utensils, and to wash surfaces that could be infected with the virus.

Henry says 371 people in the province have been tested for the virus as of last Friday and the results showed many of the cases included seasonal viruses such as influenza B, which she says is affecting young people particularly this year.

The World Health Organization has named the new virus COVID-19, which stands for coronavirus disease 2019 because it was detected toward the end of last year.

The virus has been linked to over 1,000 deaths in China among 42,638 confirmed cases on the country’s mainland and a total of nearly 43,000 cases globally.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 11, 2020.