British Columbia’s top doctor is set to provide an update Saturday on a group of Canadians isolating after returning from an Antarctic cruise ship linked to a rare strain of hantavirus.

Dr. Bonnie Henry is scheduled to speak Saturday at 11 a.m. Pacific Time about Canadians isolating in B.C. following their return from the MV Hondius cruise ship.

The update comes after the World Health Organization identified the Andes strain of hantavirus in passengers aboard the ship. Unlike most forms of hantavirus, the Andes strain can spread from person to person.

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The WHO has said the overall public risk remains low.

Canada’s chief public health officer, Joss Reimer, said earlier this week that 26 people across Canada are being monitored by public health authorities for symptoms after sharing flights with a confirmed hantavirus case.

Reimer said those passengers are not considered close contacts because of where they were seated on the flights.

Nine travellers in Canada, in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, have been classified as high-risk exposure cases and instructed to self-isolate.

Four of those travellers are isolating in British Columbia, where Henry previously warned they were entering a “very critical phase of the incubation period.”

Ontario health officials have said three passengers isolating in the province are not being tested because screening would not yet produce reliable results. Alberta health officials said two travellers there are isolating at home.

Saturday’s briefing will provide more clarity on the condition of the B.C. travellers.

More to come…

–with files from The Canadian Press

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