The latest news on the novel coronavirus and the illness dubbed COVID-19 (all times Eastern):
11:45 a.m.
Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu says Canada is increasing its funding for COVID-19 research by $20 million, after concluding that the $7 million it had planned to spend isn’t enough.
Hajdu says applications for the initial amount were “overwhelming.”
Forty-seven research teams will now get backing from the federal government, for work on treatment and epidemiology, vaccines and diagnostic tools, and on how to spread useful information and combat fear.
11:40 a.m.
Toronto’s top public-health doctor says the latest patient diagnosed with COVID-19 there used public transit for several days before he was tested for the virus.
The man in his 40s is one of two recently confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Toronto, and recently returned from a trip to Las Vegas.
Dr. Eileen de Villa says the situation is considered low-risk, and transit riders without COVID-19 symptoms do not need to seek medical help unless they get a call from her unit.
The other Toronto case, a man in his 50s, recently returned to Canada from Iran.
Both men are isolating themselves in their homes.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 6, 2020
The Canadian Press
The Canadian Press
