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83-697: The PHAC was formed because of a series of official inquiries about the SARS crisis in Canada which was particularly severe. For example, the province of Ontario inquiry and the National Advisory Committee on SARS and Public Health both recommended that a new organisation be formed. It was so instantiated, by Order in Council in 2004 under the Minister of State for Public Health (Canada) of

166-816: A SARS research lab in the National University of Singapore had contracted the disease while working on the West Nile virus but recovered shortly thereafter. It was suspected that the two viruses mixed while he was doing his research. On 10 December, a researcher in a SARS lab in Taiwan was found infected with SARS after returning from Singapore attending a medical conference; 74 people in Singapore were quarantined but none of them were infected. Auditor General of Canada The Auditor General of Canada (French: La vérificatrice générale du Canada )

249-743: A WHO team of international scientists landed in Guangzhou from Beijing to discuss with officials, but the team was yet to inspect any suspected origin or any medical facilities on the progress of infection control. Fifteen of the quarantined Amoy Gardens residents at Lei Yue Mun Holiday Camp were relocated to the Sai Kung Outdoor Recreation Centre after an overnight protest on washroom sharing. The first medical worker infected with SARS died in Hong Kong. The doctor's daughter and infected wife survived his illness, although

332-627: A concept of operations outlining four scalable response levels and a governance structure that aims to facilitate an efficient, timely, evidence-informed and consistent approach across jurisdictions. The PHAC headquarters are located in two pillars—one is in Ottawa , and the other is the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg , Manitoba , the location of Canada's only Level 4 microbiology lab for human health. Both

415-583: A coronavirus in the same genus as the one that caused SARS, was discovered in Wuhan , Hubei , China. This strain causes COVID-19 , which spread to other areas of Asia, and then worldwide in early 2020, marking the start of the COVID-19 pandemic . On 16 November 2002, an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) began in China's Guangdong province, bordering Hong Kong. The first case of infection

498-641: A family wedding gathering; Liu was on the staff at Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital in Guangzhou and had treated SARS patients. On 21 February, Liu and his wife checked into room 911 on the ninth floor of the Metropole Hotel. Despite feeling ill he visited with his family and they traveled around Hong Kong. By the morning of 22 February, he knew he was very sick and walked to the Accident and Emergency Department of Kwong Wah Hospital to seek treatment. He

581-647: A federal/provincial/territorial process in 1991, with subsequent editions in 2000 and 2009. Following the 2009 revision, the decision was taken to make future updates on a case-by-case basis." The Canadian Adverse Events Following Immunization Surveillance System (CAEFISS) is a "federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) public health post-market vaccine safety surveillance system" managed by PHAC. CAEFISS receives passive reports of Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) as well as engages in active monitoring of marketed vaccines in Canada. Pharmacovigilance related to AEFI

664-586: A heightened global health alert about a mysterious pneumonia with a case definition of SARS after cases in Singapore and Canada were also identified. The alert included a rare emergency travel advisory to international travelers, healthcare professionals, and health authorities. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued a travel advisory stating that persons considering travel to the affected areas in Asia (Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam, and China) should not go. On 17 March, an international network of 11 laboratories

747-514: A higher proportion of its citizens than any other country. The pandemic was the subject of a review document, issued in November 2010. The CPHO position was left vacant for 16 months until Dr Gregory W. Taylor was elevated to the post on 24 September 2014. Taylor had filled the position on an interim basis since the departure of David Butler-Jones . In the November 2014 omnibus budget bill ,

830-451: A medical conference. He fell ill during the flight and told a friend waiting at Bangkok not to touch him, to call an ambulance and take him to a hospital. He was isolated in an intensive care unit. A similar outbreak of a mysterious respiratory infection was reported among Hong Kong healthcare workers. On 12 March, WHO issued a global alert about a new infectious disease of unknown origin in both Vietnam and Hong Kong. On 15 March, WHO issued

913-594: A resident of Shanghai who had roomed across the hall from Liu at the Metropole. He was admitted to the French Hospital of Hanoi on 26 February, where he infected at least 38 members of the staff. Even though he was evacuated to Hong Kong, he died on 13 March. Carlo Urbani , a World Health Organization (WHO) infectious disease specialist, was among the staff who examined Chen. Urbani observed that other hospital staff were already falling ill and realized that he

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996-794: A soldier from the People's Liberation Army of China named Feihu Yan had worked at the NML, co-authored six scholarly papers with Qiu while s/he was employed by the Chinese Academy of Military Medical Sciences , and furthermore had been paid by the PHAC for parts of this five-year collaboration which began before "early 2016". Qiu has co-authored at least eight publications with Yan. A retired CSIS director observed that Canadian researchers are subject to stringent security checks and that this national security procedure somehow appeared to have been bypassed by

1079-649: A split personality developed with the twin agencies of President and CPHO. The post of President is presently held by Iain Stewart, who was appointed on 21 September 2020 to replace Tina Namiesniowski. Vice-president of the Health Security Infrastructure Branch Sally Thornton was also dismissed on 15 September in the midst of controversy over the disbandment of the GPHIN system. The chief public health officer (CPHO)

1162-595: A threat to Canadian security", an inconvenient truth that the Chretien government wanted to silence. Christian Leuprecht , an academic at the Royal Military College says this reveals larger security issues at the NML: "This would also explain why you haven't charged them, because once you charge them, then eventually you have to put people on trial. And when you put people on trial, then you have to disclose

1245-503: A timely and accurate manner, signaling a major change in policy. SARS had also been gaining prominence in the mainland Chinese media; by late April, it had jumped from virtual invisibility onto the front page, with daily reports from all provinces on new cases and measures. On 20 April, Beijing's mayor Meng Xuenong and the health minister of the PRC Zhang Wenkang were replaced respectively by Wang Qishan from Hainan and

1328-442: A timely response to the needs of Canadians. The Public Health Network Council (PHNC) is an FPT committee that is co-chaired by the deputy CPHO, Dr Howard Njoo. The PHNC is populated by an array of directors, deputies, chiefs, experts and coordinators, from far and wide the public health guardians of Canada . The FPT SAC on Public Health Response Plan for Biological Events has been in place since at least October 2017: outlines how

1411-465: A waiver of tourism- and transport-related license fees, and HK$ 1 billion allocated for tourism promotion overseas. The package also includes a salaries tax rebate and reduced rates. On 26 April, Wu Yi was named Zhang Wenkang's replacement as PRC health minister. On 26–27 April, Chinese authorities locked down Beijing, closing down theatres, discos, and other entertainment venues in Beijing as

1494-552: Is Canada's lead health professional. The CPHO is also a Governor-in-Council appointment whose role is to provide advice both to the Minister of Health and to the President of the PHAC. Dr. Theresa Tam was named CPHO on June 26, 2017. The Public Health Agency of Canada Act empowers the CPHO to communicate with other levels of government, voluntary organizations, the private sector and Canadians on public health issues. Each year,

1577-612: Is a Supreme audit institution which acts as an officer to the Parliament of Canada tasked with highlighting accountability and oversight by conducting independent financial audits of federal government's operations. These performance audits, known as the Auditor-General's Report provide members of parliament with objective evidence to help them examine the government's activities and hold it to account and improve good governance among public officers included. Karen Hogan

1660-592: Is a member. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service had "urged the removal of the security clearances" of the Chinese pair, the event of which brought the matter to public light in July 2019. Stewart said March 2021 that the January 2021 termination of the scientists was due to a "number of review processes" initiated by the PHAC in 2018, "relating to possible breaches of security protocols". It later came to light that

1743-403: Is a shared responsibility between Health Canada and PHAC. The PHAC produces numerous reports, amongst which are the annual CPHO reports to the public as well as the annual departmental results summary which is provided for a Parliamentary audience. The CPHO produces yearly public health reports which "summarize evidence on high-priority public health issues and provide a way forward to improve

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1826-402: Is also a question of public health" in a speech authorized by President Siddika Mithani . In 2015, CPHO Taylor left vacant a Beijing position, which had until 2015 "stationed a Canadian doctor in the Chinese capital as a direct point of connection to Chinese health officials (and an independent observer). In the absence of its own early-warning system, Canada was forced to rely more heavily on

1909-482: Is believed to have been a SARS super-spreader: 23 other Metropole guests developed SARS, including seven from the ninth floor. Liu's brother-in-law, who sought treatment in late February, was hospitalized in Kwong Wah Hospital on 1 March and died on 19 March. It is estimated that around 80% of the Hong Kong cases were due to Liu. The virus was carried to Hanoi , Vietnam , by Chinese-American Johnny Chen,

1992-758: Is responsible for possible health risks from: The PHAC houses the Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Surveillance System (CJDSS) at its Ottawa headquarters. "The Canada Communicable Disease Report (CCDR) is a bilingual, peer-reviewed journal on infectious diseases." It appears "on the first Thursday of each month, with combined issues in March/April and July/August. CCDR publishes surveillance reports, outbreak reports, original research, rapid communications, advisory committee statements and more... The journal has been in continuous publication since 1975," first by Health Canada. Since

2075-464: The 28th Canadian Ministry of Stephen Harper decided to reorganise the management structure of PHAC. Whereas formerly the deputy civil servant charged with the operation of the PHAC was identical to the CPHO , the omnibus budget bill instituted a parallel Presidential structure to govern the organisation that then could be staffed by non-medical and non-scientific personnel. The NDP health critic said at

2158-497: The Amoy Gardens housing estate due to a massive (200+ cases) outbreak in the building. The balcony was completely closed and guarded by the police. The residents of the building were later transferred to the quarantined Lei Yue Mun Holiday Camp and Lady MacLehose Holiday Village on 1 April because the building was deemed a health hazard. Most of the cases were linked to apartments with a north-western orientation which shared

2241-764: The Martin government and subsequently by legislation that came into force on December 15, 2006 under the Harper government . It is part of the federal government's Health Portfolio (along with Health Canada , the Canadian Institutes of Health Research , and other organizations). At the time of its creation in 2004, most of the agency's staff were located in the former Gandalf Technologies building in Nepean , south of Ottawa, and were part of Health Canada 's Population and Public Health Branch . The first President of

2324-551: The PHAC and Chief Public Health Officer was David Butler-Jones . In 2009, when the 2009 swine flu pandemic episode occurred, the PHAC had already been chartered for three years. In Canada, roughly 10% of the populace were infected with the virus, with 363 confirmed deaths (as of December 8); confirmed cases had reached 10,000 when Health Canada stopped counting in July. Canada began its vaccination campaign in October and vaccinated

2407-709: The West Nile virus . In July 2019 the Chinese nationals were fired from their non-salaried positions at the University of Winnipeg and "an unknown number of her [UW] students from China were removed from the lab on July 5" after the RCMP was called in May 2019 to investigate the curious affair of a trans-Pacific shipment of BSL4-grade viruses; at the time the PHAC was not identified by the CBC as other than an interested party although her LinkedIn page does list her employer since 2003 as

2490-705: The World Health Organization issued a global health alert for SARS as it became clear the disease was being spread by global air travel . On 12 April, Marco Marra , director of the Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, which is part of the British Columbia Cancer Agency , announced that scientists at his centre had broken the genetic code of the virus suspected of causing the disease. In Toronto, three more people died of SARS, bringing

2573-912: The 2004 bouleversement it has been published by PHAC. As of May 2020, the duties of Editor-in-Chief were delegated to Michel Deilgat, who resided in the Office of the Chief Science Officer at the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Branch. The French title of the publication is "Relevé des maladies transmissibles au Canada." The past Editor-in-Chief who had the office from 2013 to 2019 was named Patricia Huston. The Canadian Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (CNDSS) "collects, validates and maintains basic surveillance data on approximately 60 nationally notifiable diseases, dating back to 1924. Nationally notifiable diseases are infectious diseases that have been identified by

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2656-509: The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic . On 24 May 2019, the Global Public Health Intelligence Network (GPHIN) of PHAC was completely disbanded and a "department edict that all such alerts had to be approved by senior managers" of PHAC was issued. On 30 July 2020, the auditor general of Canada took notice of a Globe and Mail report in which whistleblowers had participated and launched an investigation into

2739-512: The CPHO is required to submit a report to the Minister of Health on the state of public health in Canada. The PHAC houses several bureaucrats: Because the portfolio at the PHAC crosses so many boundaries, and especially jurisdictional ones, the civil servants have evolved what are known as Special Advisory Committees (SAC), which include Federal/Provincial/Territorial (FPT) officials such as deputy ministers of health, so as to attempt to ensure

2822-630: The Canadian death toll to 13. On 16 April, the WHO issued a press release stating that the coronavirus identified by a number of laboratories was the official cause of SARS. The virus was officially named the SARS virus . On 17 April, the first confirmed case of SARS from India was reported. On 19 April, Premier of the People's Republic of China Wen Jiabao announced that there would be severe consequences for local officials who did not report SARS cases in

2905-649: The Chinese government." Meanwhile the Trudeau government sent the matter to the NSICOP , which was created in 2017 by Justin Trudeau to review matters relating to national security or intelligence. A former Crown prosecutor saw parallels to the 20th century Project Sidewinder , a joint RCMP-CSIS effort which found that "the Chinese government and Asian criminal gangs had been working together in drug smuggling, nuclear espionage and other criminal activities that constituted

2988-530: The Chinese soldier. Feihu participated in studies of Ebola , Lassa fever and Rift Valley fever . As of June 2021, the CBC had informants inside the NML who had seen "the Chinese military scientist" Feihu "at the NML", It was revealed in June 2021 that, during the initial RCMP investigation, "several computers had been seized, a lab log book was missing and Qiu's regular trips to China were suspended." The CBC reporter

3071-567: The Federal Accountability Act) and Auditor General Act gives this body substantial independence from both cabinet and Head of Government control. [5] The auditor general's responsibilities include: On November 4, 2011, the prime minister appointed Michael Ferguson , former Auditor General of the province of New Brunswick , as Auditor General of Canada, effective November 28, 2011. Sylvain Ricard, having been previously

3154-606: The PHAC. In May 2021, it came to light that the PHAC had employed the pair until their dismissal in January 2021. As of May 2021 the PHAC "has repeatedly declined to divulge to the House of Commons special committee on Canada-China relations " the reason for their dismissal, a situation which puzzles certain Parliamentarians because Parliament through their agent the Cabinet funds the PHAC. In the event of continued rebuff from

3237-562: The President and the CPHO officiate from Ottawa. The President is ranked above the CPHO in the departmental org chart. The PHAC is the locus of control for several systemic healthcare defences, amongst which are included: As well as the above, the PHAC houses the Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response (CEPR), Canadian Field Epidemiology Program (CFEP) and the Canadian Public Health Service (CPHS). The CEPR

3320-527: The President of the PHAC, the Parliamentarians have already voted to send the issue to the House from which they were delegated. The President has legal advice from government solicitors in which he is advised against disclosure, but the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs named Rob Oliphant broadcast his non-confidence in the legal advice of the government of which he

3403-587: The SARS travel warning for Toronto. The decision was made because "it is satisfied with local measures to stop the spread of SARS". Canadian officials said they would step up screenings at airports. On 3 May, the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup was abruptly moved to the United States due to the outbreak. China maintained its automatic qualification and later hosted the Women's World Cup four years later . On 4 May,

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3486-691: The Singapore government announced that school closures would be extended. Junior colleges were to reopen on 9 April, secondary schools would reopen on 14 April and primary schools and pre-schools would reopen on 16 April. On 6 April, a SARS case was found in Manila , a person who had returned from Hong Kong. On 8 April, SARS was discovered in the Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate near Amoy Gardens in Kowloon. Hong Kong health officials warned that SARS had spread so far domestically and abroad that it

3569-664: The Taipei City Government. The Control Yuan also launched an investigation into the hospital's closure. Taipei City Bureau of Health director Chiu Shu-ti resigned from Ma Ying-jeou 's mayoral administration on 25 May. On 27 May, the Taichung City Government , led by mayor Jason Hu , established a command center in central Taiwan to handle SARS. The Department of Health worked with several hospitals in Taiwan to expand medical facilities and treatment for SARS patients. On 31 May, Singapore

3652-427: The WHO." Adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa and national security critic Wesley Wark laments that vacancy, and said "What we didn't have was the capacity – our own independent capacity – to verify" the state of affairs in China, which was the source of the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak from which was drawn the raison-d'etre of the PHAC. This state of affairs came to light in various media at various times during

3735-622: The death toll in Beijing continued to rise, threatening to become the worst-hit area of the country, eclipsing the province of Guangdong . People who may have been exposed were ordered to stay home. Authorities were bolstered by the fact that the infection rate seemed to have declined, with Guangdong only exporting three new infections over the weekend. The economic impact was becoming dramatic as shops, restaurants, markets, bars, universities, schools, and many other businesses had closed, while some government ministries and large state banks were working with minimal staff levels. On 28 April, WHO declared

3818-535: The deputy auditor general, was appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on March 29, 2019, to serve until a permanent replacement was selected. The Office of the Auditor General of Canada was named one of " Canada's Top 100 Employers " by Mediacorp Canada Inc. five years in a row (2008–2012), and was featured in Maclean's newsmagazine. The commissioner of the environment and sustainable development,

3901-648: The disease is believed to have originated. Also, a WHO team that travelled to Beijing was not allowed to visit Guangdong province for several weeks. This resulted in international criticism, which seems to have led to a change in government policy in early April. A fishmonger , named Zhou Zuofen, checked in to the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital in Guangzhou on 31 January, where he infected 30 nurses and doctors. The virus soon spread to nearby hospitals. In February 2003, Liu Jianlun became Hong Kong's SARS index patient . He had come to attend

3984-482: The disease was identified in a Yilan hospital on 15 March. Like the first case, the third case appeared in someone who had traveled to Guangdong and transited through Hong Kong before arriving in Taiwan. Shortly after the third case was diagnosed, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States traveled to Taiwan to study the disease. The fourth case, in another traveler to Guangdong,

4067-453: The drainage system which a maritime breeze blew into the estate's balconies and stairwell ventilation. It was confirmed that the virus spread via droplets, but this later outbreak made officials question the possibility that the virus could be spread through the air. On 1 April, the U.S. government called back non-essential personnel in their consulate office in Hong Kong and Guangzhou. The US government also advised US citizens not to travel to

4150-528: The evidence that you have. So the government might quite intentionally trying to keep this sort of relatively below the radar as much as it can," not to mention the fact that there is no facility in Canadian law which allows trial in absentia . The PHAC has played a central leadership role in Canada's response to the COVID-19 pandemic . In 2020, the PHAC convened the COVID-19 Clinical Pharmacology Task Group. The CPTG

4233-502: The federal government and provinces and territories as priorities for monitoring and control efforts. Provinces and territories voluntarily submit annual notifiable disease data, which are used to produce national disease counts and rates. Age-group and sex breakdown are presented from 1991 onward." "Case definitions for nationally notifiable diseases are intended to support public health activities rather than clinical diagnosis. Standardized case definitions for NND were first developed through

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4316-528: The first time since the outbreak in the territory in March. On 24 May, a new cluster of about 20 suspected patients was reported in Toronto. By 29 May, more than 7,000 people were instructed to quarantine themselves in Canada by authorities seeking to control the potential spread of the SARS outbreak. In Taiwan, administrators and staff of Taipei Municipal Hospital's Hoping branch faced disciplinary action from

4399-923: The former deputy health minister Gao Qiang . They were the first two high-rank officials in the PRC to be dismissed because of the fallout of the epidemic. In the news conference chaired by Gao Qiang several hours earlier, the PRC admitted that in Beijing there were more than 300 cases, as opposed to the previous figure of only 37. The figure had increased to 407 the following day. Chinese officials also admitted to major underreporting of cases, which were attributed to bureaucratic ineptitude. On 22 April, schools in Hong Kong started to reopen in stages. On 23 April, Beijing announced that all primary and secondary schools would be closed for two weeks. A few days before, some colleges in Peking University had been closed because some students had been infected. The WHO issued travel advisories against Beijing, Toronto, and Shanxi . After several cases of SARS were diagnosed in Taiwan throughout

4482-416: The funder had been redacted by government. Qiu appears to have defected, since she has published 32 academic papers since she was escorted from the NML in July 2019, although Qiu was on the payroll of PHAC until January 2021. The CBC had actually asked Wang Wenbin of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (China) in June 2021 at his weekly press conference "if Qiu and Cheng were involved in espionage on behalf of

4565-423: The group recommended only administering the drug as a part of a clinical trial . The president is a Governor in Council appointment for a term of five years. While in early years of the PHAC the President of the organization was identical to the Chief Public Health Officer , who is required by law to be a scientist, the Harper government innovated to manage the organization via the more malleable civil service, and

4648-489: The health of Canadians." The Departmental Results Reports can be found along with Financial Statements. SARS crisis The 2002–2004 outbreak of SARS , caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), infected over 8,000 people from 30 countries and territories, and resulted in at least 774 deaths worldwide. The outbreak was first identified in Foshan , Guangdong , China , in November 2002. The World Health Organization (WHO)

4731-479: The month of April, including a cluster at Taipei Municipal Hospital's Hoping branch, the Taipei City Government closed that hospital and quarantined its 930 staff and 240 patients for two weeks. The decision to lock down the medical facility was protested by hospital staff. On 24 April, the Hong Kong Government announced an HK$ 11.8 billion relief package designed to assist Hong Kong's battered tourism, entertainment, retail, and catering sectors, consisting of

4814-419: The national response to public health events caused by biological agents will be conducted and coordinated, with a focus on implementation of responses led by senior-level FPT public health decision-makers. The plan was developed by an expert task group and was approved by PHNC in October, 2017. The plan describes roles, responsibilities and authorities of FPT governments for public health and emergency management,

4897-426: The newly infected number of people in Hong Kong dropped to single digits. On 19 May, the WHO Annual Meeting was held in Geneva. Hong Kong pushed for the Tourism Warning to be lifted. On 20 May, the WHO refused to lift the Tourism Warning for Hong Kong and Guangdong, but did so three days later after a recount of the number of SARS patients. On 24 May, the number of newly infected patients reached zero for in Hong Kong,

4980-407: The next two to three weeks, but warned the disease could emerge in China next winter. On 2 July, Canada was removed from the WHO's list of 'Infected Areas'. On 5 July, WHO declared the SARS outbreak contained and removed Taiwan from the list of affected areas. Taiwan's removal from the list signified the end of the outbreak. On 8 September, Singapore announced that a post-doctoral worker in

5063-506: The outbreak in Guangdong had peaked in mid-February 2003. However, this appears to have been false because subsequently 806 cases of infection and 34 deaths were reported. Italian physician Carlo Urbani was the first to identify SARS as probably a new and dangerously contagious viral disease. Early in the epidemic, the Chinese government discouraged its press from reporting on SARS, delayed reporting to WHO, and initially did not provide information to Chinese outside Guangdong province, where

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5146-414: The outbreak in Vietnam to be over as no new cases were reported for 20 days. On 29 April, leaders of member countries of ASEAN and the PRC premier held an emergency summit in Bangkok , Thailand to address the outbreak. Among the decisions made were the setting-up of a ministerial-level task force and uniform pre-departure health screening in airports. On 30 April, the World Health Organization lifted

5229-432: The public early enough about the outbreak. The PRC Health Minister also claimed that the disease has been under control in most parts of mainland China. He also released the names of seven drugs which he claimed to be effective in curing SARS. WHO officials said that the information provided by the PRC about the disease has been "very detailed". US government enforced compulsory quarantine of an infected person. On 5 April,

5312-424: The region. On 2 April, Chinese medical officials began reporting the status of the SARS outbreak. China's southern Guangdong province reported 361 new infections and 9 new deaths, increasing the total Mainland China figures previously reported at end-February. The virus was also detected in Beijing and Shanghai. The WHO also advised travellers to avoid Hong Kong and Guangdong during a press briefing. On 3 April,

5395-469: The resignation of Vice-President in charge of the pandemic early warning system and emergency stockpile who had resigned earlier in the week. Iain Stewart was transferred from the National Research Council of Canada to head up the troubled division. The PHAC controls and funds the National Microbiology Laboratory BSL4 lab at which Xiangguo Qiu and her husband Keding Cheng performed their research into dangerous infectious diseases like Ebola and

5478-448: The same sewage pipe. According to government officials, the virus was brought into the estate by an infected kidney patient (the type of kidney illness was not specified) after discharge from Prince of Wales Hospital , who visited his elder brother living on the seventh floor. Through excretion, the virus spread through drainage. One theory speculated that the virus was spread by airborne transmission , through dried up U-shaped P-traps in

5561-504: The scandal. The GPHIN had been part of Canada's contribution to the WHO , which described GPHIN as "a cornerstone" and "the foundation" of global early warning. In fact "approximately 20 per cent of the WHO's epidemiological intelligence" had come from GPHIN before it was silenced. On September 18, 2020 while Parliament was prorogued , Tina Namiesniowski, who was then the President of the PHAC resigned 17 months into her five-year tenure, which had begun on May 6, 2019. Her resignation followed

5644-414: The time that: "To bury it in an omnibus bill says to me that they don't want people to know about it and they don't want questions," while Health Minister Rona Ambrose said that "the idea for the new structure came from the agency itself." On 28 September 2016, the Commissioner of Official Languages (at the time Graham Fraser ) told the Executive Committee of the PHAC that "official languages leadership

5727-424: The wife was also among the quarantined medical workers under intensive care. Hong Kong school closures were extended by two weeks to 21 April. On 4 April, the WHO team inspected the first infection case in Foshan County. The person infected four people but did not infect his family. A 40-year-old woman became the first local case in Shanghai. A Chinese health specialist admitted at a press conference to not informing

5810-533: Was admitted to Tan Tock Seng Hospital after visiting Hong Kong, starting the outbreak in Singapore. Although she recovered, various family members did not. The first cases of atypical pneumonia in Taiwan were identified in a Guangdong-based businessman and his wife on 14 March and confirmed on 17 March. He had returned to Taiwan via Hong Kong on 23 February and reported a fever two days later. His wife became ill after caring for him, and both were admitted to National Taiwan University Hospital . Taiwan's third case of

5893-490: Was an ad-hoc advisory committee composed of experts in the fields of infectious disease, microbiology, clinical pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences. The group's work concluded on March 30, 2021, and their statements removed from the government website. Membership of the CPTG included: The CPTG released several statements regarding COVID-19 treatments , advising against hydroxychloroquine while advocating for dexamethasone in hospitalized patients. Considering remdesivir ,

5976-468: Was appointed Auditor General of Canada in June 2020. She replaced interim Auditor General of Canada Sylvain Ricard. Auditors general are appointed by the governor general in council ( cabinet ) on advice of the House of Commons and Senate for a non-renewable term of ten years. An auditor general may only be removed for cause by the governor-in-council with the approval of both the House of Commons and Senate . The Oversight and Accountability (a/k/a

6059-568: Was created by Parliament in 1995 as an aide to the AGC, and has offices within the precinct of the AGC. The commissioner is empowered under the 1995 amendments to the Auditor-General Act to receive "petitions on environmental and sustainable development matters and [to] require ministers to respond to them". The petition process requires the ministry to respond in 120 days, although the process may be delayed by litigation. The Office of

6142-460: Was dealing with a new and dangerous disease. He himself became infected and died on 29 March. On 23 February, an elderly woman named Kwan Sui-Chu who had also been a Metropole Hotel guest, returned to Toronto , Canada, from Hong Kong. She died at home on 5 March, after infecting her son Tse Chi Kwai, who subsequently spread the disease to Scarborough Grace Hospital and died on 13 March. On 1 March, 26-year-old Esther Mok, another Metropole guest,

6225-859: Was established to determine the cause of SARS and develop potential treatments. On 25 March, Hong Kong authorities stated that nine tourists had contracted the disease from a mainland Chinese man who had boarded the same plane on 15 March, Air China Flight 112 to Beijing. On 27 March, Arthur K. C. Li , head of the Hong Kong Education and Manpower Bureau , announced cancellation of all classes in educational institutions. The Ministry of Education in Singapore announced that all primary schools, secondary schools, and junior colleges were to be shut until 6 April 2003. Polytechnics and universities were not affected. On 29 March, Urbani died in Bangkok. On 30 March, Hong Kong authorities quarantined estate E of

6308-409: Was here to stay. Nevertheless, WHO officials remained cautiously optimistic that the disease could still be contained. On 9 April, James Earl Salisbury died of SARS at a hospital in Hong Kong. An American Mormon and a teacher at Shenzhen Polytechnic , he had been sick for approximately one month before his death, but he was originally diagnosed with pneumonia . His son Michael "Mickey" Salisbury

6391-580: Was identified in Chiayi on 18 March, after he sought treatment at a hospital the previous day. By 22 March, six cases in Taiwan had matched the World Health Organization definition of probable. On 4 March, a 27-year-old man, who had visited a guest on the Metropole's 9th floor 11 days earlier, was admitted to Hong Kong's Prince of Wales Hospital . At least 99 hospital workers (including 17 medical students) were infected while treating him. On 11 March, Carlo Urbani travelled to Bangkok , Thailand , to attend

6474-580: Was notified of the outbreak in February 2003, and issued a global alert in March 2003. Initially, the cause of the outbreak was unknown, and some media outlets reported that an influenza virus was a potential culprit. The major part of the outbreak lasted about 8 months, and the World Health Organization declared SARS contained on 5 July 2003. However, several SARS cases were reported until May 2004. In late December 2019, SARS-CoV-2 ,

6557-500: Was removed from WHO's list of 'Infected Areas'. On 10 June, the government of Ontario created the SARS Commission inquiry in order to "investigate the recent introduction and spread of SARS" in the province. On 23 June, Hong Kong was removed from WHO's list of 'Affected Areas', while Toronto, Beijing, and Taiwan remained. On 27 June, the World Health Organization stated that the world population should be SARS-free within

6640-445: Was traced to Foshan . This first outbreak affected people in the food industry, such as farmers, market vendors, and chefs. The outbreak spread to healthcare workers after people sought medical treatment for the disease. The People's Republic of China notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about this outbreak on 11 February 2003, reporting 305 cases including 105 health-care workers and five deaths. Later it reported that

6723-555: Was treated by the triage nurse and doctor without protective measures even though a memorandum on surveillance of severe community-acquired pneumonia had been issued by the Hospital Authority of Hong Kong . After Liu's chest X-ray taken in Kwong Wah Hospital became available, staff became aware of the situation, wearing personal protective equipment and full isolation inside the ICU . He had not recovered and died on 4 March. Liu

6806-599: Was under the impression that two clearances are required to work at the NML: one under the HPTA and another "secret level clearance", but she does not disclose the name nor the controller of this latter clearance. The CBC reported in June 2021 that they had seen government documents through the Access to Information Act that revealed Qiu to have been funded by a third-party not PHAC for her Chinese travels, of which there were "at least five trips" during 2017 and 2018. The identity of

6889-660: Was with him in China and also contracted the disease, but he survived it. Salisbury's death led to more open admissions by the Chinese government about the spread of SARS. On 10 April, Jim Hughes, the head of infectious disease at the CDC , confirming the warnings of Hong Kong health officials, claimed that he believed that SARS could no longer be eradicated in the Far East. However, he remained hopeful that it could be prevented from spreading widely in North America. On 11 April,

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