Winnipeg lab Canada’s front line in coronavirus strategy

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This article was published 30/01/2020 (2223 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — Winnipeg’s National Microbiology Lab has tested samples from 101 people within Canada for a new coronavirus as of Thursday, when officials deemed it a global health emergency.

The lab co-ordinates Canada’s provincial responses and federal research to pathogens such as the novel coronavirus, believed to have originated in Wuhan, China.

“They are working day and night, really, really hard, primarily on the diagnostic tests. But they are also contributing to the international collaboration on research,” Canada’s chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, told reporters Thursday afternoon.

Tam told media the Winnipeg lab has tested samples from 101 people, of which three tested positive, and 58 were deemed negative. Forty cases were awaiting results.

She was speaking hours after the World Health Organization declared the virus a national health emergency.

Tam is the bureaucratic head of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), based in Ottawa.

She said the Winnipeg lab is helping global research efforts, since it’s actually come across samples from people who have the virus.

The work involves doing research with the virus’ genome sequence published by Chinese officials. The hope is an existing vaccination used for other coronaviruses can work on the Wuhan strain — Tam estimated “there will not be a vaccine for at least another year,” if a particular one for this coronavirus is needed.

The National Microbiology Lab also gets a sample of each case of suspected coronavirus provincial labs test, to verify the results.

“This is important because these are new tests, and so additional verification is (the) best practice,” Tam said.

She did not know how many Winnipeg employees are involved in each task. PHAC would not make anyone from the Winnipeg lab available for an interview Thursday.

However, Gary Liu, who works at the Winnipeg lab, took it upon himself to self-quarantine after a family visit to China, though not in the affected area.

“I’m not an expert, but I pay extra caution to myself, and the public,” said Liu, who was only speaking on his own behalf. “I’m not an expert in the virus.”

Liu had helped organize a Lunar New Year event for Feb. 8 in Winnipeg, which has been postponed. Chinese officials forbade the event’s star attraction, Hebei Acrobatic Troupe, from leaving the country, as they’re from the affected province.

Liu had already taken two weeks off to prepare for the celebration, which he’s now spending at home, ordering in food. The novel coronavirus takes about 10 to 14 days for symptoms appear — he’s been back for 12, and he’s not taking any chances.

While he was in China for his mother’s 80th birthday, plans to hit the town were scrapped. His family would normally be out celebrating Chinese New Year, but most are huddled at home watching television, he said.

Liu suspects others who returned to Manitoba from China are also quarantining themselves.

“We don’t want to give any chance to the public to get sick,” said Liu. “Health is more important.”

In China, he recalled officials administering temperature tests at trains and airports, and said almost every passenger on the flight to Vancouver wore face masks. He urged Winnipeggers to wash their hands and see a doctor if they’re having flu-like symptoms.

Manitobans can also phone Health Links at 204-788-8200 or toll-free at 1-888-315-9257.

Meanwhile, the Winnipeg lab is among a few dozen in the world that can handle Level 4 pathogens, requiring the highest level of biosecurity.

In recent years, former National Microbiology Lab virologist Xiangguo Qiu had helped train officials at China’s first Level 4 government lab — which happens to be based in Wuhan.

Qiu was escorted out of the Winnipeg lab last July, over what PHAC called “a policy breach” involving shipment of pathogens to China. Employees at the lab have blamed the incident on higher-ups botching paperwork. The case remains under RCMP investigation.

Online conspiracy sites have linked Qiu with the Wuhan outbreak without providing any proof. Officials say the two are not linked.

— with files from Katie May

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca