Health Notes

B.C. announces eighth COVID-19 case on same day as first U.S. novel coronavirus fatality recorded in Seattle area

by Charlie Smith on February 29th, 2020 at 4:39 PM
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      Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry have announced a new case of the novel coronavirus in this province.

      A woman in her 60s who's visiting from Iran's capital city of Tehran is being kept in isolation with family at a home in the Vancouver Coastal Health Region.

      "Close contacts have been identified and contacted by public health officials," Dix and Henry said in a joint statement. "Those who may be at risk are now in isolation for 14 days and are being actively monitored for symptoms."

      This is the eighth positive test result for COVID-19 in B.C. According to Dix and Henry, four people who had the virus are "fully recovered".

      "While the risk of spread of COVID-19 within British Columbia remains low at this time, we continue to focus efforts on containing and delaying the spread of transmission, as well as preparing for the possibility of a pandemic," they said. "A pandemic is the spread of an illness to a large number of people on a global scale."

      This news came on the same day that the United States recorded its first COVID-19 fatality and three new novel coronavirus cases were reported in Ontario.

      A man in his 50s died in the Seattle area from the disease. Dr. Jeff Duchin, health officer for Seattle and King County, told reporters that he had a "significant, chronic, underlying health condition".

      There's no evidence that the man had travelled to areas where there are lots of coronavirus cases, nor was he in close contact with any infected people. This suggests that he contracted COVID-19 through its spread in the community.

      He was being treated at the EvergreenHealth Medical Center in Kirkland, Washington.

      "It is a sad day in our state as we learn that a Washingtonian has died from COVID-19," Gov. Jay Inslee said in a statement. "Our hearts go out to their family and friends. We will continue to work toward a day where no one dies from this virus." 

      Centre for Disease Control

      A Snohomish County man who had travelled to the epicentre of the outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan was the first recorded case in the United States in late January. He has since recovered, according to Inslee.

      There are two other cases in Washington, where Inslee has issued an emergency proclamation.

      One is a King County woman who recently travelled to South Korea and the other is a Snohomish County teenager with no history of travelling to affected countries. Both of them are recovering at home.

      Two of the three new cases in Ontario have a history of travelling to Iran, which is one of the countries dealing with a large outbreak of COVID-19.

      One of them, a 34-year-old woman, travelled on GO bus number 40 from Pearson International Airport to Richmond Hill around 3:55 p.m. on February 26.

      People are being advised to contact York Region Public Health if they were on the upper deck on that bus or sitting near the woman when she travelled business class on Qatar Airways Flight QR 483 and QR 163 and on Air Canada Flight AC 883.

      The other woman, 51, returned from Iran on February 22 and went to a clinic in Ajax, Ontario, on February 27.

      The third Ontario case involves her 69-year-old husband, who didn't travel with her to Iran.

      There have now been 11 COVID-19 cases in Ontario.

      The number of COVID-19 cases outside of China has risen by at least 20 percent in each of the last four days.

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