Canada doing all that's needed to respond to swine flu: PM
B.C. closes school in Okanagan Valley as precautionary measure
Last Updated: Thursday, April 30, 2009 | 7:30 PM ET
CBC News
Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks at a news conference in Toronto on Thursday. (Mark Blinch/Reuters) Canada is doing "everything that is necessary" to deal with the outbreak of swine flu, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday.
"I think we are doing everything that is necessary to respond to this situation at this time," Harper told reporters during a news conference in Toronto.
By Thursday afternoon, there were 34 confirmed cases of swine flu in Canada, all said to be mild.
Meanwhile, B.C. health officials said Thursday they had decided to close an elementary school in the Okanagan Valley after a student was diagnosed with swine flu.
Beairsto Elementary school in Vernon, B.C., will remain closed for a week.
Provincial Health Officer Perry Kendall said it's a precautionary step after a pupil — who is at home recovering well — at the 500-student French immersion school tested positive for the H1N1 influenza virus.
Harper said the growing outbreak, which is believed to have started in Mexico, is a "serious situation."
"I can assure the people of Canada that governments around the world are responding in an appropriate and co-ordinated way," he said.
Harper praised the "excellent co-operation" among federal and provincial governments, as well as among national governments around the globe. He advised Canadians to closely follow any health warnings to help prevent the flu's spread.
"We are encouraging everyone to comply with the warnings that have been given and the advice provided by health-care officials during this period," he said.
New cases confirmed
Harper spoke as Nova Scotia and Alberta each confirmed four new cases of swine flu, while British Columbia confirmed five and Ontario and Quebec each confirmed one.
The Quebec case is the province's first confirmed instance of the swine flu. The person is from the Montreal area and is recovering at home.
Robert Strong, Nova Scotia's chief public health officer, said the new cases in his province are related to an original cluster of four cases among students attending the King's Edgehill School, a private boarding school in Windsor, N.S.
Strang said only one of the students who has contracted a confirmed case of the virus had been to Mexico.
"It has then spread through the larger population of the school," he said.
In Alberta, the provincial chief medical officer of health, Dr. André Corriveau, said the four new cases confirmed there were all mild. They involve four young people from Calgary who went on a trip to Mexico together. Three are male and one is female.
"They came back and had a mild course of illness and were managed at home and are all recovering," Corriveau said Thursday in Edmonton.
The four have been advised to stay home for a week — the period when people are infectious, Corriveau said.
