Seventh confirmed case of COVID-19 in Ontario

TORONTO – Ontario’s chief medical officer of health has confirmed another positive case of COVID-19 in Ontario.

Officials said the man in his 50s arrived in Toronto on Tuesday and went to Sunnybrook Hospital the following day. He had a travel history to Iran.

The man was discharged from hospital and sent home where he is in self-isolation.

“The established infection prevention and control protocols were initiated; the patient was cared for at the hospital using all appropriate precautions, including being isolated as he was being tested for COVID-19. The man was discharged home the same day and, per protocols, went into self-isolation where he remains,” the release states.

It marks the seventh case of coronavirus in Ontario. Three cases are considered resolved. Twenty-two remain under investigation according to the province’s website.

The province maintains that the risk of being infected in Ontario remains “very low.”

On Thursday, Ontario announced the first instance of human-to-human transmission in the province after the husband of an infected woman in Toronto also tested positive for the virus.

The Ministry of Health said the woman in her 60s had recently travelled to Iran. Her husband, who is in his 60s, was not in Iran with his wife but contracted the virus after her return.

Patients in all of the other previous cases had a recent travel history to China.

Both the husband and wife are in self-isolation at home in Toronto and are doing well, said Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto’s medical officer of health.

This is the 14th confirmed case of COVID-19 in Canada, not including people who were placed in quarantine after arriving on evacuation flights from Japan and China.

Seven cases have been confirmed in B.C. so far as Quebec announced its first presumptive positive case of the new coronavirus on Thursday.

The new case was reported the same day the World Health Organization raised its global risk of virus spread and impact from “high” to “very high.”

As more infections were being reported day-by-day, the head of the WHO reminded the public that containment of the new coronavirus starts with you.

“Our greatest enemy right now is not the virus itself. It’s fear, rumours, and stigma. And our greatest assets are facts, reason, and solidarity,” Director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

You are also being urged to wash your hands regularly, not touch your face, and to educate yourself.

Ghebreyesus said your risk of getting the new coronavirus.

 

-With files from CityNews Toronto, CityNews 1130 Vancouver

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