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B.C.'s 6th presumptive COVID-19 case flew from Montreal to Vancouver on Feb. 14
Air Canada says case confirmed Feb. 22, 8 days after flight, health officials have contacted others onboard
The B.C. Centre for Disease Control says the province's 6th presumptive case of COVID-19, a woman in her 30s, flew on an Air Canada flight from Montreal to Vancouver on Valentine's Day, eight days before she tested positive.
Officials say they have contacted those sitting close to her on the plane and flight staff as a precautionary measure.
Air Canada confirmed on Sunday that a passenger aboard one of its flights from Montreal to Vancouver on February 14 has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. The BCCDC later confirmed it was indeed the case announced on Thursday.
The airline said health authorities confirmed the case with it on Feb. 22, more than a week after the flight. Air Canada says it's working with public health authorities and has taken "all recommended measures."
The latest person to test positive for the virus lives in the Fraser Valley, about an hour drive east of Vancouver, but had been visiting Iran, where there has been a spike in cases.
On Sunday, the World Health Organization said there were 28 confirmed cases and five deaths from the virus in Iran.
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3 deaths, 79 cases, in five regions
he number of confirmed Covid-19 coronavirus cases has soared to at least 79 in Italy, forcing authorities to introduce increasingly strict containment and quarantine measures in the northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto.
A 78-year-old man died near Padua in the Veneto region on Friday night, and two elderly women, one of them suffering from cancer, died in two towns south and east of Milan.
At least 17 people have been confirmed infected in Veneto so far, including the latest victim’s wife and daughter, as authorities are still mulling whether the Carnival of Venice events should be cancelled. In neighboring Lombardy, there are 54 cases, including one in Milan – a city with a population of 1.4 million, where Women’s Fashion Week is currently taking place.
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(video) Coronavirus: Japan apologises for Diamond Princess cruise ship
Japan's health minister was forced to apologise for failing to contain the virus, which has spread throughout the region since the outbreak in Hubei province in China.
In South Korea, the coronavirus alert has been raised to the "highest level" as confirmed case numbers keep rising while Italy has imposed a strict lockdown in outbreak hotspots.
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Globally, we will not be able to contain the spread of this virus
"Globally, we will not be able to contain the spread of this virus. We can slow it down, but we can't stop it," said Dr. Allison McGeer, an infectious diseases specialist at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital who worked on the front lines of the SARS epidemic in 2003.
"The number of countries with cases is going to continue to increase."
Officials are also concerned about the number of cases with "no clear epidemiological link," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Friday, such as travel history to China or contact with a known confirmed case.
He said while the number of cases outside China remains small, they are "worrisome."
"It's in our hands now," Tedros said. "If we do well within the narrowing window of opportunity, we can avert any serious crisis. If we squander the opportunity, then there will be a serious problem on our hands."
1st case in Canada with no connection to China
Canada's ninth presumptive case of coronavirus is a woman in her 30s who recently travelled to Iran and is now recovering at home in British Columbia.
Health officials were surprised to learn she had not travelled to China or any of its neighbouring countries, and have classified the case as a "sentinel event" — one that originated from a region that is completely unexpected.
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New case of Covid-19 in Toronto
A woman arrived in Canada from China on Friday and went to North York General Hospital in Toronto with an intermittent cough, the province says. She was tested for the new virus, known as COVID-19, and was sent home for self isolation because her illness was mild.
Ontario health officials say there's a new presumptive case of the novel coronavirus in Toronto.
They said a woman arrived in Canada from China on Friday and went to North York General Hospital in Toronto with an intermittent cough.
The province said the woman was tested for the new virus, known as COVID-19, and was sent home for self isolation because her illness was mild.
Officials said the woman's local tests came back positive for the virus on Sunday and the sample has been sent to the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg for confirmation.
The province said it's unlikely that the woman was infectious.
It said she "followed all protocols and wore a mask throughout her travels back to Toronto."
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Venice Carnival closes as Italy imposes lockdown
Italian officials have cut short the Venice Carnival as they try to control what is now the worst outbreak of the coronavirus in Europe.
Authorities in the Veneto region said the event would end later on Sunday, two days earlier than scheduled.
Italy has by far the highest number of coronavirus cases in Europe, with 152. Three people have died.
Italy has imposed strict quarantine restrictions in two northern "hotspot" regions close to Milan and Venice.
About 50,000 people cannot enter or leave several towns in Veneto and Lombardy for the next two weeks without special permission. Even outside the zone, many businesses and schools have suspended activities, and sporting events have been cancelled including several top-flight football matches.
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South Korea taking 'unprecedented' steps as Italy, Iran also struggle to contain COVID-19
President Moon Jae-in puts South Korea on highest alert as number of infections soar
The Associated Press · Posted: Feb 23, 2020
Some of the latest numbers:
Wuhan doctor who postponed wedding to fight outbreak dies from virus.
Iran has 43 cases of COVID-19, eight deaths, and 15 new cases on Sunday.
Italy has 132 cases and three deaths.
South Korea has 602 cases and six deaths.
China reports a total of 76,936 cases, including 648 new cases on Saturday, up from 387 a day earlier.
Britain now has 13 cases, with four former cruise ship passengers testing positive.
South Korea's president said Sunday that he was putting his country on its highest alert for infectious diseases and ordered officials to take "unprecedented, powerful" steps to fight a soaring viral outbreak that has infected more than 600 people in the country, mostly in the last few days.
China also reported hundreds of more infections for a total of about 77,000, and Iran raised its death toll from the virus to eight —— the highest toll outside of China. While the number of patients worldwide is increasing, some virus clusters have shown no link to China and experts are struggling to trace where those clusters started.
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