Coronavirus outbreak: Canada's health minister says shutting down borders 'not effective'

Canadian Health Minister Patty Hajdu spoke with reporters alongside B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix and Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart following a meeting and roundtable with members of the Chinese-Canadian community.

The three political leaders spoke about the COVID-19 coronavirus and the various efforts still ongoing to combat the virus.

Hajdu said they were working on the evacuation of Canadians from the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Japan, saying they were trying to confirm numbers but are expecting the flight to leave later this week.

She also spoke about recent calls for all flights to be suspended to China, saying that closing a border was "not effective at all" at controlling the spread of disease. She also said in the long term they can create a greater risk to public health, saying that China has been very open and sharing the sequence of the virus to allow other countries to do proper testing and if a border was closed, the transparency that allows countries to fight the virus would be gone.

For more info, please go to
Subscribe to Global News Channel HERE:
Like Global News on Facebook HERE:
Follow Global News on Twitter HERE:
Follow Global News on Instagram HERE:
#GlobalNews

Canada,Health,Canadian Health News,Patty Hajdu,British Columbia,COVID-19,Coronavirus,Coronavirus Outbreak,Westerdam Cruise Ship,Cambodia,Canadians on Westerdam Ship,Diamond Princess,Canadians on Diamond Princess,Wuhan,Japan,BC,Vancouver Chinatown,China,Coronavirus Misinformation,