Four Canadians who arrived in B.C. after being on the cruise ship struck by hantavirus are now isolating in the Island Health region, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says.
The four arrived at Victoria International Airport Sunday evening, Henry told media during a second update in two days on Monday (May 11). Henry gave the first briefing on Sunday afternoon before the four arrived in B.C.
She said the arrival went smoothly and the four didn’t come into contact with the public.
Henry said that they were thoroughly screened and assessed by Island Health public health officials and everyone was wearing the appropriate personal protective equipment.
“It showed last night they were tired, and I would say exhausted, but very relieved and grateful to be back here in Canada.”
While the four are isolating for a minimum of 21 days in the Island Health region, they’re not all from the Island or B.C.
Two of them are a couple in their 70s from the Yukon, another person is in their 70s and from the Island and the fourth person is in their 50s and from B.C. but living abroad.
The person, who lives on the Island, lives alone and is isolating at home. The other three are in facilities that Island Health has procured, Henry said, with the couple isolating together and the fourth person isolating separately.
B.C. public health officials are working closely with the Yukon government as the territory wouldn’t have the capacity to test or the facilities to care for someone if they were to develop severe symptoms that have been seen with the virus.
The four will be isolating in the Island Health region for a minimum of 21 days, which began on Sunday. However, that could be extended to 42 days, Henry said.
The known incubation period is about six weeks.
None of the four Canadians had directed contact with the ill people on board, but Henry noted that “in a closed environment, like the cruise ship, it’s very difficult to know for certain.”
She said the European Centre for Disease Control had people do an assessment of all passengers onboard and everyone on the ship is considered “higher-risk contacts.” However, the four Canadians are “in the lower-risk spectrum” in terms of the location of their cabins and the activities they did in proximity to those who became ill.
Henry added all four “were and continue to be well and have no symptoms.”
There are two other “events” where people were potentially exposed to the virus: a flight to Johannesburg, South Africa from Saint Helena and another flight to Amsterdam from Johannesburg.
“The wife of the initial case was on board the Saint Helena to Johannesburg flight) and was starting to show symptoms. When that flight landed in South Africa, there were boarding a flight from Johannesburg to Amsterdam,” Henry said.
“The wife was notably quite ill and was on that flight for a period of less than an hour. They were medically assessed, the flight was delayed, didn’t take off, and they were taken off the flight and taken to hospital and died the next day in South Africa.”
Henry said there Canadians on the Saint Helena-Johannesburg flight and they are being monitored: one in Ontario and one in Quebec. There were also Canadians on the Johannesburg to Amsterdam flight and they are being monitored in Alberta and Ontario.
During the isolation, Henry said each person will be receiving daily monitoring by public health teams including regular symptom checks, wellness assessments, and clear guidance on what to do, should their health status change.
If there is a change in their symptoms, Henry said her office will provide additional updates.
A cluster of passengers with severe respiratory illness aboard the the MV Hondius were reported to the World Health Organization on May 2. Since then, three people have died.
Henry said nine people have tested positive, including a recent case in France from someone who just returned from the cruise ship. She added there are multiple people still in hospital, including one in South Africa, two in the Netherlands, one in Switzerland and the most recent case in France.