Don't panic, don't stockpile food, Manitoba health minister urges as coronavirus fears ramp up

Manitobans worried about coronavirusshould notpanic and don't need to stockpile food, the province's health minister says.

Cameron Friesen isinstead asking Manitobans to take basic precautions to prevent the spread of the illness, such as washing their hands and staying home when sick.

But he does suggestpeople have a healthy supply of personal medicine, just in case.

"It's never a bad idea to make sure that you've got medications that you need and that you're not running short of basic medications that have been prescribed to you," Friesen said at a news conference Tuesday.

"Beyond that, I think Manitobans can rely on the fact that their government and Public Health will keep them in the know."

The province has yet to record any confirmed cases ofnovel coronavirus, which has infected more than 90,000 people worldwide and resulted in the deaths of more than 3,000 people.

Questioning stockpiling food

There are now 30 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus,confirmedin Canada.

Friesen, however, cautioned against fear-mongering, as the risk of contracting the illness remainslow in Manitoba and Canada.

In a conversation with Patty Hajdu, his federal counterpart, Friesen says he took exception to Hajdu's advice last week thatCanadians should preparefor possible illnessas they would for a natural emergency such as severe weather by stocking up with about a week's worth of food, medicine and other basic supplies.

"I just questioned the extent to which, at this point in time, such an instruction would be helpful. I believe she agreed that we need to co-ordinate our statements," he said.

Health ministers want "to be able to speak with one voice, because I think thatconsistency matters."

WATCH | Ian Froese's report:

Health minister cautions against fear-mongering

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Duration 2:07

Health Minister Cameron Friesen cautions against federal advice to stock up on week's worth of food, medicine.

He wouldn't speculate whether Manitobans should take measures to prepare for isolation.The Canadian Red Cross, forexample, recommends Canadians prepare asmall 72-hour emergency kit.

Stores in the provinceare facing shortages offacial masks andhand sanitizers, Friesensaid.

The World Health Organization says the hoarding of masks, gloves and gowns is leaving health-care workers ill-prepared to care for patients and it's putting lives at risk.

"Without secure supply chains, the risk to health-care workers around the world is real,"WHO director-general Dr.Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Tuesday.

"Industry and governments must act quickly to boost supply, ease export restrictions and put measures in place to stop speculation and hoarding. We can't stop COVID-19 without protecting health workers first."

Since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, prices for surgical masks have surged, Ghebreyesus said, adding supplies can take months to deliver and are frequently sold to the highest bidder.

The WHO has shipped nearly half a million sets of personal protective equipment to 47 countries,but supplies are rapidly depleting.

So even in places like Manitoba, where therehave been no confirmed cases yet of COVID-19, politicians and others are warning against unnecessary stockpilingof medical equipment.

"Health-care workers at the front line, not onlyglobally buteven here in Winnipeg, rely on those for infection control and that's not just for coronavirus that's for any number of things," said Jason Kindrachuk, the Canada Research Chair in infectious diseases at the University of Manitoba.

"Yes, we can have supplies at home, but those types of things are definitely not going to havea recognizable impact in transmission in the community. In hospitals is where they're needed."

Kindrachukis leaving Wednesday for two weeksin the Marshall Islands, a sovereign state north of Australia that is associated with the United States, where he will be working with a WHO-funded non-governmental organizationtohelpthe country prepare for cases of coronavirus.

"Because it's U.S. territory, there is a direct link back to the mainland, so I think there is some concern that this potentially could be essentially a jumping off point for more cases to be able to come into North America," he said.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, Friesen said the Manitoba government is deploying "extraordinary resources"to prepare the province for the arrival of the virusif it comes.

The health minister is participating in adaily briefing with the chief provincial public health officer andheld a conference call with municipal officials on Monday.

Hospitals have a number ofprotocols in place, depending on the threat, Friesen said. He wasn't specific about those plans, but said they rangefrom how testing is done to appropriate staffing levels.

"We know there's no instance here in Manitoba, so that planning continues and thatplanning goes to a granular level of what this would look like in hospitals if we had a certain amount of our population that was affected."

The health minister wouldn't say whether there is a strategy to deal with a quarantine.

"I won't get too far into detail, but I'd say the planning at this point is significant."