Canada confirmed that their second case, announced this morning, is also recently returned from Wuhan and is a close contact of the first confirmed case.
January 27th, 2020
Statement from Dr. Eileen de Villa, Medical Officer of Health, Toronto Public Health:
Toronto Public Health reports second presumptive confirmed case of novel coronavirus
Toronto Public Health (TPH) has received notification of Toronto’s second presumptive confirmed case of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). The individual recently travelled to Wuhan and is a close contact of the first presumptive confirmed case of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). Since arriving in Toronto, this individual has been in selfisolation at home, recovering and is currently doing well. This is the appropriate course of action for someone who is ill with respiratory symptoms.
We are not surprised to learn of a further case as we have a very mobile population, with lots of travel back and forth between Canada and China. However, I want to remind residents that at this time the risk to our community remains low. We appreciate that many people have questions, however we continue to ask that people respect these people’s privacy as they recover.
We continue to hear from our local hospital partners that people are presenting to their emergency departments without signs of illness. While we appreciate that people may have concerns, and that people may worry about their health, we encourage people who were on this flight and who do not have signs of illness to continue with their routine activities and we ask that these people do not present to the healthcare system. If you have questions, we encourage you to call public health at 416-338-7600.
Our overall advice remains the same: if you don’t need to be managed in a hospital because of your given medical condition, if you are not sick enough to require hospitalization to recover from a respiratory illness, we recommend staying home with plenty of rest and fluids to let your body recover. This is standard care for this type of illness.
2019-nCoV has been identified at the same time as local circulation of the flu is common in Toronto. As a result, we are also advising residents and staff to take the usual measures to reduce the risk of the transmission of the flu and respiratory illness, which include getting a yearly flu vaccine, washing hands frequently, covering your cough or sneeze and staying home if you are ill.
We appreciate that there are many information sources. We would like to remind residents to go to credible sources when seeking information about this rapidly evolving situation. We will continue to keep residents informed as new information is confirmed.