OTTAWA, Feb 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Canadian man on a flight from Toronto to Jamaica falsely announced to passengers that he had the coronavirus, forcing the plane to return to the airport where he was arrested.
The incident occurred on Monday during a WestJet Airlines flight from Toronto to Montego Bay.
“A male was causing a disturbance on the flight, saying he had been to China and had the coronavirus,” said Sarah Patten, a spokeswoman for police in the town of Peel, close to Toronto’s Pearson international airport.
After the plane landed the 29-year-old man was checked by medical staff who concluded he did not have the coronavirus. He was arrested, charged with mischief and will appear in court on March 9, Patten said by phone.
WestJet was not immediately available for comment.
Meanwhile, Canada aims to evacuate some 300 of its citizens on Thursday (Feb 6) from the quarantined Chinese city at the epicentre of a coronavirus outbreak, a government source said, though the planned flight was still awaiting final Chinese approval.
Canadians in Wuhan, capital of China’s Hubei province, have received an email from the foreign ministry saying a plane was expected to leave with evacuees early on Feb 6, according to a report by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp (CBC).
According to a portion of the letter the CBC posted online, not everyone who is eligible for a seat will get one.
“Right now, there is a larger number of Canadians asking for evacuation than is space on the plane,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. “That’s why we have already got an option on the second plane.”
Trudeau said the aim was to get people home soon, specifying the time frame only as “in coming days”.
On Monday, Canada’s foreign minister said some 300 people had asked to be evacuated. They will be flown first to Vancouver, where the plane will refuel, and then on to a military base in southern Ontario.
Those evacuated will be placed in quarantine for 14 days once they arrive at Trenton Air Force base, some 180 km northeast of Toronto.
Total infections in mainland China rose to 20,438, and there have been nearly 200 cases elsewhere across 24 countries and China’s special administrative regions Hong Kong and Macau.
Canada has had four confirmed cases.
