A woman in her 60s visiting British Columbia from Tehran, Iran has been recorded as the province’s eighth coronavirus patient.
In a statement released on Saturday February 29th, the Ministry of Health announced that the woman was visiting her relatives in the Vancouver Coastal Health region when she was diagnosed with COVID-19.
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She is now in isolation at home with support and monitoring from public health officials.
Anyone who came in close contact with her and may be at risk of contracting the illness is now in isolation for 14 days and being actively monitored for symptoms.
The good news, however, is that four out of the eight patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in B.C. have recovered as of February 29th. The other four individuals are resting at home.
These eight positive coronavirus cases were discovered as a result of BCCDC testing 1,425 samples for 1,012 individuals as of February 27th.
Public health authorities are reiterating the fact that the risk of spread of COVID-19 remains low in B.C. at this time. Nevertheless officials are preparing for all contingencies, including the possibility of a pandemic.
A ‘pandemic’ is defined by Merriam-Webster as ‘an outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects an exceptionally high proportion of the population’.
There are now 23 cases of novel coronavirus in Canada, with 15 reported in Ontario and 8 in B.C.
Deaths in neighbouring U.S. state
While no deaths related to COVID-19 have been recorded in Canada, six people succumbed to the illness over the past three days in nearby Washington state, U.S.A.
According to statements from Public Health — Seattle & King County, a man in his 50s became the first person to succumb to novel coronavirus in the U.S. on Friday, February 28th.
Five of the patients succumbed to COVID-19 in King County, while the sixth died in Snohomish County, officials say.
There are currently 12 cases of novel coronavirus recorded in Washington state and 75 total confirmed or presumptive positive cases in the U.S., according to the latest updates from the CDC.
As of the time of publication, the total number of COVID-19 patients worldwide has risen to 90,294.
Nearly 3,090 people have died from the illness and 45,705 have made a fully recovery.
