Ontario confirms 4 new positive cases of coronavirus, bringing provincial total to 15
3 men in their 40s, 50s and 60s, woman in her 70s are the newest cases
CBC News · Posted: Mar 01, 2020 5:59 PM ET | Last Updated: 21 minutes ago
Dr. Karim Kurji, York Region's Medical Officer of Health, says three new positive cases of coronavirus were confirmed in the region on Sunday. (CBC)
Health officials have confirmed four new cases of coronavirus in Ontario, involving three men and one woman.
The men are in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, while the woman is in her 70s.
Three of latest cases are in York Region while the other is in Toronto. The confirmation comes a day after three other positive cases were confirmed in the province, one of them also in York Region.
Dr. Karim Kurji, York Region's medical officer of health, said on Sunday that one of the patients — the man in his 40s — is the husband of the region's first patient announced on Saturday — a 34-year-old woman. The man travelled with his wife to Iran and back to Canada.
"This is related to travel to Iran," Kurji said.
"In his case, while he accompanied his wife and toddler, he didn't develop any symptoms at all until after arrival in Canada and whilst he was in isolation.
"So we arranged for his testing, which is something that we mentioned yesterday, and those test results have come back positive," Kurji added.
The next case is a man in his 50s, a Toronto resident who is temporarily residing in the city of Vaughan.
"He is the brother of one of Toronto's recently reported cases who had also travelled to Iran, arriving at Pearson on Feb. 25," Kurji said.
The man had been assessed and tested at Mackenzie Health, a Richmond Hill, Ont., hospital, on Friday, Feb. 28. Kurji said the man is in self-isolation and doesn't pose a risk to the community.
Kurji said the third case in North York is a woman in her 70s, from Newmarket, who is a contact of the positive case in Toronto who is believed to have contracted the virus in Egypt.
Meanwhile, Dr. David Williams, Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health, said a third man in his 60s — who returned from Iran on Sunday, Feb. 23 — presented himself to North York General Hospital's emergency department on Friday.
The man informed the hospital of a cough and recent travel history.
Williams said the man was assessed and discharged home on the same day.
"As per protocols, he went into self-isolation where he remains with minimal contact with others. Toronto Public Health is actively engaged in contact tracing and case management," Williams said in a news release.
Today's new cases bring the total number of confirmed cases in the province to 15. The overall Canadian total rose to 24.