Just when it was starting to look like Ontario was over the worst of 2019's novel coronavirus outbreak, a new "presumptive positive case" of has been confirmed in Toronto.
A woman in her 60s is Ontario's fifth inhabitant to fall ill as a result of contracting the COVID-19 virus, according to the province's Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. David Williams.
Previous to this, four other people who had recently travelled to China tested positive for the disease in Ontario, though the first three patients have now recovered beyond the point of being infectious.
"On February 24, 2020, a woman in her 60s presented herself at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre's emergency department with a travel history to Iran," reads a press release issued by the provincial government Wednesday morning.
"As per established infection prevention and control protocols, the patient was cared for at the hospital using all appropriate precautions, including being isolated as she was tested for COVID-19."
Proper isolation precautions were followed, and there is no risk to others who were in the Emergency Department on February 24. The hospital remains safe for patients, visitors and staff, and all clinics and procedures are running as normal.
— Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (@Sunnybrook) February 26, 2020
The release indicates that the woman was discharged the same day she came in and went into self-isolation at home directly after leaving the hospital.
"Toronto Public Health is actively engaging in contact tracing and case management, including following up with the individual and her close contacts," notes the provincial government.
Ontario now currently has two people in self-isolation with COVID-19. On Monday, it was announced that a woman in her 20s who recently arrived in Canada from China had also tested positive for the virus.
MEDIA RELEASE: Ontario Confirms Positive Case of COVID-19 in Toronto. More info: https://t.co/jDNT18qeTW
— Toronto Public Health (@TOPublicHealth) February 26, 2020
A total of 80,239 cases of coronavirus had been confirmed globally —77,780 of them in China — as of February 25, according to the World Health Organization.
Some 2,666 people have died as a result of contracting the virus within China, according to the WHO. Another 34 people have died elsewhere in the world, with cases of COVID-19 now registered in 33 countries including Canada and the U.S.
The Canadian government is still warning citizens to avoid avoid all travel to the province of Hubei, where the city of Wuhan remains in quarantine with more than 11 million residents on lockdown.
The WHO currently has a global risk level of "high" listed for the 2019 coronavirus outbreak, but Toronto Public Health maintains that the general risk to members of the public in this city is low.
by Lauren O'Neil via blogTO
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