This is an excerpt of a message from Health Services.
In January 2020, a new coronavirus (2019-nCoV) was identified as the cause of an outbreak of pneumonia originating in Wuhan, China. The situation is rapidly evolving and UWaterloo Health Services, Region of Waterloo Public Health and Emergency Services, Public Health Ontario, along with the Ministry of Health, is closely monitoring the outbreak, conducting surveillance and appropriate laboratory testing, and providing public health and infection control guidance. There are no direct flights from Wuhan, China to international airports in Ontario. The risk to Ontario is currently considered low.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that originate in animals but are known to cause respiratory illness in humans, particularly during the fall and winter months. Other novel coronaviruses have included Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV).
At UWaterloo Health Services, we routinely screen all students see in the medical clinics for recent travel and mask and follow other precautions for anyone with potentially infectious respiratory symptoms, no matter where they have been.
This situation is evolving rapidly, and our website will be updated with significant development along with campus messaging when appropriate.
Check out Health Services' tips on how to prevent the spread of illness.