Ontario’s ministry of health confirmed Tuesday that three more people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Ottawa as a result of travel or close contact with other cases.
Since March 11, the province has reported 27 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the national capital.
The newest three cases include a woman in her 30s and a man in his 40s who contracted the virus through close contact, according to a daily update on COVID-19 cases by the provincial government.
The third case is a man in his 50s who recently travelled to the United States.
All three adults are self-isolating, according to the province’s update.
Local health officials have warned that the number of confirmed cases in Ottawa doesn’t paint the full picture of transmission in the community because some sick people may only experience mild symptoms and Ottawa Public Health (OPH) is currently only testing people who meet a certain criteria at its assessment centre at Brewer Park Arena.
The city’s top doctor, however, recently said OPH got laboratory confirmation of community spread in the national capital and, based on modelling data, it’s possible there’s up to 4,000 undetected cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa.
Ontario health officials on Tuesday confirmed 85 new COVID-19 cases across the province, including one more death.
Of the province’s 588 total cases, seven people have died, eight cases have been resolved and 573 cases remain active.
Thousands of other test results are currently pending, according to Tuesday’s update.
As of 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Ottawa’s public health unit said it’s investigating 25 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus and 13 indeterminate cases.
According to Dr. Vera Etches, the city’s chief medical officer, OPH receives information about confirmed cases from the provincial laboratory system a bit later than the Ontario government.
Across the Ottawa River, the Quebec government had confirmed 12 COVID-19 cases in the Outaouais region as of Tuesday afternoon.
The mayors of Ottawa and Gatineau have asked residents to limit interprovincial travel to “essential trips” in order to help curb the spread of the virus.
Comments