VANCOUVER -- Several Lunar New Year events in the Lower Mainland have been cancelled over concerns about the novel coronavirus that has killed over 50 people in China.
The Chinese Village Club cancelled events at the Semiahmoo Shopping Mall in Surrey, the Surrey Museum and an outdoor plaza at Windsor Square.
The club's director is from Wuhan, the city where the novel coronavirus first emerged, and says she doesn't want to take any risks.
"Because it's Chinese New Year, family members come back from China to Canada," Karen Huang, director of Chinese Village Club, told CTV News.
"To make our community safe, we don't want people gathering together."
Organizers of Vancouver's Chinatown Spring Festival parade say events will continue as planned on Sunday.
The first presumptive case of the coronavirus in Canada was confirmed Saturday in Ontario. Health officials in that province said that a man in his 50s who had travelled to Wuhan was taken to Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital and is now in stable condition.
In a statement following the announcement, British Columbia's health minister and chief health officer said the risk to the public in B.C. remains low.
Health Minister Adrian Dix and Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s top doctor, say there have been no confirmed cases of the virus in B.C. and health officials in the province are meeting regularly with counterparts across Canada to make sure they are prepared if cases arise.
With files from The Canadian Press.
