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Metrolinx working to contact passengers of GO bus that transported COVID-19 patient

Officials said the woman boarded the bus at Pearson Airport on Wednesday around 3:55 p.m. Nick Westoll / File / Global News

Metrolinx says they are working to contact passengers who were on a GO bus that transported a woman with COVID-19.

The woman boarded GO bus number 40 at Pearson Airport on Wednesday around 3:55 p.m. and went eastbound until getting off at Richmond Hill Centre Terminal.

Officials said she sat on the upper deck of the bus.

On Saturday, health officials confirmed the 34-year-old had a case of the new coronavirus after travelling from Iran.

“We’re continuing to work very hard to respond to customers & their concerns about the recent case of COVID-19 on a GO bus,” Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins said in a tweet Sunday morning.

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“Anyone who boarded bus 40 … should reach out to their doctor or public health for advice.”

Aikins said Metrolinx is working to contact customers who used registered Presto cards to board the bus.

Dr. Karim Kurji, York Region’s medical officer of health, first made the appeal on Saturday for those GO bus passengers to reach out to health officials.

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“We would like … for these individuals to get in touch with us so we can help them understand the risks, explain to them the symptoms and signs, and if there were some unusual circumstances, then we may be able to act appropriately,” Kurji said during a press conference.

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Meanwhile, Aikins said cleaning has been increased on GO Transit vehicles since the threat of COVID-19 emerged.

“We already have good cleaning and disinfectant procedures in place for all of our vehicles. We stepped that up. We do extra,” she told Global News.

Aikins said the driver of the GO bus that transported the woman has been contacted.

The woman’s case was one of three new COVID-19 cases announced in Ontario on Saturday, with a couple also testing positive for the virus in Durham Region.

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