Canada announces 3rd coronavirus case and citizen evacuations

The Government of Canada announced on Wednesday, January 29 that it now has three cases of the new coronavirus that has caused an epidemic outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan and authorities said they will repatriate Canadians in Hubei province.

The new case, which adds to two already confirmed in Toronto, has been located in the province of British Columbia, , a region with close commercial and social ties with China.

Meanwhile, Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Phillipe Champagne declared in Ottawa that Canada has secured a charter plane to transport Canadians who want to leave Hubei Province, the epicenter of the epidemic, and that they are working with Chinese authorities to finalize the logistical details of the evacuation.

At the same time, the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has begun reducing its diplomatic personnel in China in response to the spread of the epidemic

Canada announced on January 25 the detection in Toronto of its first case of the new coronavirus, a male of around 50 years of age, who arrived on January 22 in the Canadian city from Wuhan.

Two days later, authorities said the wife of the first patient, who also came from Wuhan, was the second confirmed case of the new coronavirus.