London public health officials say risk of COVID-19 remains low in the area

Local public health officials say the risk of the spread of the novel coronavirus in London and surrounding areas remains "very low," with no new cases in the area to report. 

While precautions have been taken to prevent getting infected, such as schools cancelling international field trips and people stocking up on hand sanitizer and surgical masks, health officials say there's no need to panic at this point. 

"We love it when people pay attention to what they can do to protect themselves, we don't love it when people worry and that's really where we're trying to get to," said Dr. Chris Mackie, medical officer of health with Middlesex-London Health Unit. 

"[We want to get to] a place where people are paying attention and are taking reasonable steps to protect themselves, their families and others, but are not in that panic mode," he added. 

On Wednesday, public health officials met with primary care providers and school board representatives to share information and discuss preparations and planning regarding the virus.

So far, there have been 20 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario, with 17 people still being treated for the illness and a bit over 100 being investigated.

"In SARS we were operating in the fog of war," Mackie said. "We didn't know what the illness was, didn't know exactly how it spread [and] health care providers were falling ill." 

"In the coronavirus, we have a lab test that is very accurate, ... we have a government in China that's actually been quite cooperative in terms of sharing information, which we didn't have 20 years ago. We have a lot of things that are in our favour at this stage," he added.

Should you be stocking up on masks and food?  

Mackie says that unless a person is sick, there's no need for them to be wearing face masks in public. 

Recently, Londoners have been stockpiling on surgical masks and hand sanitizer in an effort to seek protection from the virus, a type of behaviour which may cause an issue, Mackie warned. 

"If people are using masks for things that they don't need them for, that might mean that our community doesn't have them when we really do need them." 

"There is no disease, to my knowledge, that indicates that sort of response and those masks are needed in the health care setting," he added. 

When it comes to stocking up on food, Mackie said that while the health unit recommends having enough food and water to last between 48-72 hours for any emergency situation, the spread of this virus doesn't merit it at this point.  

"The reality is that an ice storm is much more likely to cause supply chain disruptions than Coronavirus," he said.

Should you be avoiding large gatherings?

While some places around the world are asking people to avoid large gatherings and are cancelling crowd-filled events, Mackie says that's not the case in London right now. 

"The reality is we have very little spread in Canada," he said.

"We're not at a place where cancelling mass gatherings is appropriate right now," he added, saying that there's always a possibility to implement social distancing if needed in the future. 

What about travel plans? 

The Thames Valley District School Board cancelled eight school field trips to Europe in light of the growing numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide. 

"March break's coming up very soon and you are seeing some schools appropriately deciding not to send students to places where the virus is spreading in large numbers," Mackie said. 

He advises anyone with travel plans to regularly check the Public Health Agency of Canada for any travel advisories

Best way to protect yourself?

Health experts say the best way to avoid getting infected is to wash your hands. 

The Middlesex-London Health Unit recommends using warm water and liquid soap, then scrubbing your hands for at least 20 seconds -  the length of time it takes to sing "Happy Birthday" twice - to thoroughly clean your hands.