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The world remains watching China for signs of whether the spreading coronavirus will be as serious as the SARS pandemic that spread in 2003.

A prominent virologist says that so far the new virus could become 10 times as contagious as the SARS virus.

The World Health Organization is still mulling whether to call a global emergency. There have been 17 deaths in China, and hundreds more have been infected with pneumonia-like symptoms.

The Canadian government says it is monitoring the situation. Health Minister Patty Hajdu said the overall risk to Canadians remains low and that, while a few people are being monitored, no positive cases have yet been identified here.

"I think it’s important that we’re not alarmist, but that we’re cautious and we’re prudent, and that’s exactly what Canada is doing,” Ms. Hajdu said told reporters.

This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Chris Hannay. It is available exclusively to our digital subscribers. If you’re reading this on the web, subscribers can sign up for the Politics newsletter and more than 20 others on our newsletter signup page. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.

TODAY’S HEADLINES

The International Court of Justice, the United Nations’ top court, has issued an emergency order to Myanmar, asking them to end actions that are threatening the lives of the country’s Rohingya minority. Canada has been watching the case closely and may yet intervene.

The extradition hearing for Meng Wanzhou continues in Vancouver. In Day 3, the judge pressed the government’s lawyer on the issue of whether someone should be extradited to face a charge abroad if doing so would be objectionable to most Canadians.

Rona Ambrose will not run for Conservative leader. “Right now I’m focused on making a difference through the private sector,” she said in a video released last night. So far the main contenders are former cabinet minister Peter MacKay and Ontario MPs Marilyn Gladu, Erin O’Toole and Pierre Poilievre. Two other candidates have emerged, claiming to fly the flag for the social conservatives in the party: former aide Richard Décarie and rookie MP Derek Sloan. Mr. Décarie’s comments that being gay is a “choice” drew wide condemnations from the main candidates in the leadership race.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has a new national security adviser, a career civil servant Vincent Rigby.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer says the election costing process – new in last year’s campaign – went pretty well, but could do with some small improvements.

Rogers says it won’t spend as much on its infrastructure if the government goes too strong on its plans to force telecom companies to lower their prices.

Your midday long read: the story of 16-year-old Devon Freeman, his death and why many are now calling for mandatory inquests when children in care die.

And the CBC is abandoning its four-host format on The National. Instead it will have two hosts – Adrienne Arsenault and Andrew Chang – on most weekdays, with Ian Hanomansing hosting the Sunday and Friday broadcasts. Rosemary Barton is now the show’s Chief Political Correspondent. An internal staff memo said the CBC was making the change because viewers didn’t like have four rotating hosts and preferred consistency.

Lori Turnbull (The Globe and Mail) on the challenge Conservative leaders have to hold together the party’s support: “In conversations about electoral politics in Canada, it is common to hear references to the Conservative “base.” This language is misleading. There is no homogeneous foundation supporting the Conservative house but, instead, a number of distinct constituencies, including fiscal conservatives, red tories, gun owners, classical federalists, neoliberals and social conservatives.”

Graham Fraser (The Globe and Mail) on why the next Conservative leader must be bilingual: “We have two linguistic, intellectual and judicial traditions in this country. And there are four million French-speaking Canadians who speak no English. Anyone who wants to understand the country as a whole needs to understand them and their world; anyone who wants to play a leadership role in this country needs to be able to communicate with them.”

Don Martin (CTV) on the current state of the leadership race: “The nobodies are pounding on the door while the somebodies bolt for the exit in a Conservative leadership race hemorrhaging political status and credibility.”

Kory Teneycke (CBC) on Stephen Harper’s shadow cast on the race: “Harper doesn’t need to campaign for or against anyone in the party leadership race. Every candidate will be attempting to claim some degree of ownership or continuance of the Harper record, and quietly intimating that they have his private approval. There is no path to victory running against Harper’s legacy.”

David Parkinson (The Globe and Mail) on whether the Bank of Canada will ever cut rates: “Critically for the Bank of Canada, this weak growth pace has opened up what it calls the 'output gap’ – the degree to which the economy is producing less than it is capable of producing. A wider output gap implies less inflationary pressure in the economy as a whole. For a central bank whose mandate is tied to an inflation target, this alone puts a rate cut on the radar.”

David McKeown (The Globe and Mail) on addressing panics caused by health scares: “In a time of panic, sober reality can become a rare resource. But the fact is this: Formerly deadly communicable diseases have been largely banished from the top ranks of causes of death in wealthy countries by better sanitation and living standards, antibiotics and vaccines, and it is now very uncommon for a healthy person to die of an infection transmitted by another person, even during an outbreak. The diseases that usually kill us now – heart disease, lung disease, diabetes or cancer – are largely diseases of how we live rather than who we meet on the subway.”

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