KENORA – A situation unfolded on Thursday in Kenora engaging the OPP, Kenora Fire,
Kenora’s post office was evacuated after an apparent suspicious package from Wuhan, China had been delivered to the post office. Postal workers were reported to being unwell.
The Kenora OPP, Kenora Fire and Emergency Services and Northwest EMS paramedics all assisted with the situation. The call to emergency services came in around 1:30 pm on Thursday.
OPP Constable Jason Canfield told media, “Police were dispatched to a suspicious package call at the post office. The concern was that some of the employees weren’t feeling good, and the package is from Wuhan, China, the same city that the Coronavirus started in. We’re just taking the appropriate precautions to make sure that everyone is okay.”
No Risk of novel coronavirus
Donna Stanley, the manager of infectious disease control for the Northwestern Health Unit reported, “The risk of the virus spreading is person-to-person. It is not spread through inanimate objects. So, a package through the mail could not spread the Coronavirus. There are many viruses and influenza in our community right now. It is much more highly likely that — if people are having symptoms — it’s another virus. We want people to look after their health and do what they would always do, if they feel unwell, but not fear that they got novel coronavirus from a package.”
